Life is Harder
by SonicTeamFreeWill
Summary: What if James really had Renee prisoner like he claimed? How might Twilight have turned out? my own alternate ending but Canon events up to this point. My first real attempt at an Edward Bella ffic longer than a one-shot.
1. Chapter 1

**AN ~ Ok I just had this idea and thought it would be good to write. I had been wondering 'what if' for a while...wondering just how big a difference it might make if James really did have Renee prisoner. This is what I think might have happened. This is a short chapter, but hopefully a good one. Please review if you can spare a few seconds :)**

**Disclaimer: characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, opening dialogue (in italics) belongs to Melissa Rosenburg (or whoever owns the Twilight movie script), the rest of it mostly me.**

Chapter One

I tried not to look too anxious on the cab ride to Mimi's Ballet Studio, where a trap was set and baited, and my death quite possibly waiting. I clung to my cell, fingernails - or what was left of them - marring the smooth black service.

_"Mom came home after she received a very worried call from your Dad. It all worked out quite__ well..." _James' sly voice explained.

_"__Bella? __**Bella?**__ Bella, where are you?"_ Mom's panicked voice demanded. I could just imagine her, strapped to a chair in a dark room, James holding the phone over to her with that dark, predatorial grin on his face. Instantly, I searched for Alice and Jasper. They'd help me, they'd stop the hunting party, they'd get Edward, and we'd go save my Mom together.

As if he'd read my mind, James added:

_"I'll know if you bring anyone along. Poor mommy would pay the price for that mistake..."_

My heart thudded loudly as I slipped into the deserted studio. There were mirrors everywhere. There was such a painfully _real _feeling of being watched. It sent a shiver down my spine, but I swallowed my fear. Mom was in here...somewhere...

I scanned the room, searching for a storeroom somewhere. I spotted it soon, and almost ran over. No, I couldn't do that. James was here somewhere; hiding, waiting. I didn't want to startle him. Fingering the pepper spray in my bag, I tried to comfort myself, but I couldn't help worrying - what would it do to a vampire?

Shoving my fears aside, I opened the store room. I jumped back instantly, only just stifling a scream, as the body of the janitor fell to the floor at my feet. Blood stained his blue uniform, and his eyes were wide in fear. My head spun, and I felt like I was about to collapse beside the poor man, when suddenly I heard a familiar voice.

"What did you do?" Mom shrieked. "Where's Bella? What have you done to her?"

James laughed darkly.

"I haven't hurt Isabella...yet."

The doors flung open, and I screamed; higher and louder than I ever had. I closed my eyes and screamed and screamed - I wasn't ready for this! This wasn't as easy as I'd hoped! Would I get to see Mom again?

I felt a smooth finger brush my cheek. I opened my eyes and James smiled slyly.

"Ah, Bella, so nice of you to come," he crooned.

"Let Mom go." I demanded, trying to look threatening. And failing miserably.

"I'm afraid I can't do that." James raised his eyebrows and pouted. He knew something I didn't. My mind raced even faster than my heart as I tried to figure out what I had done wrong.

Oh no. The note.

I had specifically asked them not to come after me. I bet they had. They'd probably called Edward too...oh, God, no!

I heard a window smash, and my nightmares sprung to life.

"Bella, what the HELL were y-" Alice's rage was cut off halfway as James sent her flying across the room. Carlisle ducked discreetly around the outside as Emmett and Jasper dropped through the window. He touched my arm.

"Are you all right?" he asked softly.

"I- I-" I tried to articulate a response and failed. Everything was going hazy. Edward followed the others, his face the only thing in focus as he rushed over to me.

"Bella?" he wondered, beautifully breathless.

"Edward," I mumbled. I staggered, and Carlisle calmly wrapped his arms around my shoulders, pinning one of them to his chest so I would stay standing. I wished the arms wrapped around me were Edward's, but since my brain seemed to be shutting itself down, I picked the more important of the two messages. It took all my concentration just to get the words out.

"Mom's...here...You...find Mom." I attempted to press a finger to his chest, but I felt his cool hand push it back to my side.

"Okay, Bella," Carlisle said, his voice gentle and calm as always. It came into focus and then blurred again, but I managed to make out most of the words. My legs trembled dangerously underneath me. "Stay calm. I'm going to take you to the car...Jasper will come...Edward will...find your mother."

I nodded - I think.

"Everyone's going to be okay," Edward assured me, touching my hand again.

Everything disappeared into blackness.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN ~ Last chapter was from Bella's POV (as I'm sure you clever ppl figured out) but it will be switching around as Bella is sort of incapacitated. This chapter is EDWARD POV. I will try my hardest to keep it just to Bella + Edward's POVs but it will certainly be a challenge!**

**BIG THANK YOU to all the people who added this story to your faves or subscribed to it wow I got a big surprise! and special thanks to Keira-Senju-Uchiha**** and GracefulKlutz1983 for favouriting me aww I'm flattered!**

**And you know what, after all this favouriting and subscribing, I haven't got a single review for this story! So, I put a challenge to all of us**

**My Challenge:**** Only use B+E povs**

**Your Challenge:**** tell me one thing (or more of course) you like about the story so far. (Constructive critisism welcome too)**

**Disclaimer: Twilight = not mine.**

Chapter Two:

Bella slumped against Carlisle, her eyes rolling back in her head. He calmly recorded every symptom, maintaining the diagnosis that Bella was simply going into shock.

"Oh, dear," Carlisle murmured sympathetically as he scooped Bella up. He often did this with his patients, especially the unconscious ones; talked to them as if they'd hear him. "Let's get you somewhere warmer."

He frowned, remembering that there were no blankets in the car. I threw him my jacket, which he caught quite ably despite Bella's body lying across both arms.

"NO!" James shrieked with rage and lunged at Carlisle, who curled his shoulders protectively, taking the worst of James' attack. He slid a few feet sideways, thrown off balance. Bella's head lolled dangerously as Carlisle recovered his footing, taking the frame off a mirror as he staggered back to an upright position. This had only taken a few strides - less than a second - but every moment Bella was in danger was one too many.

I dived for James, cutting off his second attempt to tackle Bella away from Carlisle. We slid across the floor together, tearing up panels. As Alice and Emmett sprung after James, I took a moment to glance after Carlisle. I saw him just as he shot out the door like a lucky antelope who had escaped the jaws of a lion.

_Bella is out, _he informed me. _Don't worry, Edward, I'll take good care of her. Find Renee._

James thundered past me, quickly followed by Emmett and Alice. A vision flashed through my sister's head; James would be heading towards the store room again. His anger about having lost Bella was driving him crazy, but there was another source from which he would attempt to quench his thirst.

Renee.

I pretended that I didn't know where he was going to end up - otherwise he would change his path - and, when he jumped for the window-sill and then for the store room, I was prepared. I sprung off one of the mirrored pillars and crashed into him, carrying him through a mirror and into the wall.

"Nice catch, Eddie boy!" Emmett cheered, flexing his arms enthusiastically as he jogged over to us.

"Go, Edward," Alice suggested, jerking her head towards the storeroom. I can't believe I hadn't noticed it before: Renee's heart. And oh, the smell was intoxicating...I swallowed a mouthful of bittersweet venom and Alice frowned at me.

"On second thoughts, you take care of him-" she shot a glare at James. "I'll get Renee." She disappeared, and I returned my attention to the arrogant, sly murderer and thief who had tried to kill Bella. My throat was burning - it was so _distracting. _His was worse. Both of our bloodlusts together were maddening. And it's not like Emmett and Alice were unaffected. How easy it would be to just take a bite, drink away the temptation...

No! What am I thinking! I couldn't touch Renee. No way. It would hurt too many people, too much. Especially Bella.

"Edward, look out!" Emmett cried. _Oh, man..._He grimaced as James flew at me, front on. Nothing was on the hunter's mind but blood, blood, _blood. _I was too busy trying to stop myself following James' very enticing path to attack: he shot straight past me and disappeared. From out of sight, Alice screamed, and soon the air was filled with brick dust and shouting. With everyone confused and thirsty, it was impossible to design a strategy. Alice was the only one with any kind of control left, so for Renee's sake, Emmett and I were stuck on the ground, watching the chase.

_No, no, no, no! _she squeaked in her head, as horrific visions flashed through her mind. She was too late to stop what was about to happen: James had recalculated his jump and Alice was stuck in the air, no way of changing direction. Seemingly in slow motion, he landed, the unconscious Renee bent strangely in his arms - I think several of her bones were broken. With a victorious grin, James bit into the tanned and freckled flesh at the base of Renee's neck.

"NO!" Alice cried out loud as she crashed through a pillar. I doubled over, everyone's thoughts shouting so loudly in my head that it was impossible to pick which to listen to, which to follow.

_I can't believe it...just a few inches more and it would have been fine! _Alice wailed to herself, replaying the vision and then the memory in her head and mine, trying to figure out how James had known to change direction, how she could have gone wrong.

As it turns out, Emmett was the one who seized the moment. He sprung at the distracted tracker, wrenched off his head with a sharp twist, and kicked the corpse away from Renee's still bleeding body. Every instinct pulled him forward, but Emmett reluctantly pulled himself away.

"Well done," I panted, straightening now that the pressure inside my head was somewhat lessened. The haze of thirst was lifting, Alice's panicked search for explanations had calmed, and Emmett's mind was shifted off thirst and onto the trivial thrill of the fight.

"Call Carlisle," Alice choked. "Now." _Even that might not be enough..._A vision filled her mind: the pool of blood around Renee stopped growing, the room fell silent. _She doesn't have long, Edward._

"No. Carlisle's busy. We have to get her to a hospital."

"Edward, man, are you crazy?" Emmett demanded. "I don't think any of us should be going near a hospital like this. Bella's not going to die if we leave her in the car for five minutes."

"Edward, _please," _Alice begged. "Renee's going to _die." _Alice was a few feet away from the lifeless Renee; Emmett a few more feet back, holding his breath. They paced anxiously to the side and back, like caged tigers. As close as their control allowed them, never closer or farther away. Emmett was right. A hospital was totally out of the question.

I pulled out my cell and numbly plugged the numbers in.

_"Edward?"_ Carlisle sounded surprised. _"What's wrong?"_

"It's- It's Renee," I managed. Staring at the mangled body of Bella's mother was powerful, it was agonising, but I couldn't tear my eyes away. Bella had almost become that. And now someone she loved had died in her place. But it shouldn't have been Bella's mother.

_"Edward?" _Carlisle prodded.

"It's too late," Alice breathed, shaking her head. "Edward, it's too late."


	3. Chapter 3

**AN ~ I changed my pen name to: TotallyTeamCE because I think it suits me better :) anyway, this chap is BELLA POV**

Chapter Three:

My senses returned slowly. Hearing was first.

"Oh. Okay." Carlisle said, disheartened. "Should I tell her?" _Tell me what?_ Panic struck my heart, but was quickly melted by Jasper. I didn't let it go completely though.

I forced my heavy eyelids open. We were in a car - Carlisle's Mercedes. It was dark outside. Jasper's face was above me. He looked down, sad for a moment before he covered it up with an Emmett-esque quip.

"Have a nice sleep, Bella?"

"Wha...? What happened to me?" I moaned as my smell and taste returned. I could smell blood. My mouth was dry, and even when I swallowed, that fuzzy feeling didn't go away. It was a strange sensation, as the rest of my body was still numb.

"How much do you remember?" Carlisle asked in a steady tone.

"I was at the Ballet studio...James had Mom...he wouldn't let her go," I managed. "He told me not to tell anyone or he'd kill Renee. I remembered leaving the note for Alice and Jasper, realising that they must have come. When you arrived, everything got blurry."

"You haven't suffered any memory loss, Bella," Carlisle evaluated. "Your mind and body were under a lot of stress, and shut themselves down so as to limit focus to the vital elements. You merely sunk into shock."

...

Silence fell over the car. The three of us hadn't been alone together...ever, as far as I remembered, and with all that was going on, it was hard to think up a topic of conversation that wouldn't dissolve into more awkward silence.

I was still lying on Jasper's lap, but it didn't feel weird at all. He just looked out the window instead of at my face. My ears were still ringing, so I didn't want to try sitting up just yet. Goodness knows I'd faint or something and Carlisle (not to mention, Edward) would have me chained to a bed in their freakishly clean, temperature-controlled attic for the next two weeks.

Hmm...two weeks trapped in Edward's house. Maybe getting up was a good idea after all.

"Carlisle," Jasper murmured, barely audible. Carlisle immediately jumped to attention. It was a good thing too: a second later, the simultaneous _thud _and _crunch _of the bonnet announced a heavy weight having landed on it. I saw a flash of read hair, and all thoughts of nausea or dizziness left my mind. I was bolt upright.

"Oh! My! God!" I gasped and flung my arms out, bracing one against each of the front seats as, without a seatbelt, I was flung sideways as Carlisle flipped the car around and started weaving through traffic. He was just as reckless as Edward.

"Victoria's here," Jasper whispered in a low tone into the cell he hugged to his ear. "What? Why are you alone? What happened to Esme?" 

"Esme?" Carlisle cut in. "What happened to Esme?"

As I was thrown back into my seat, scrambling for the belt buckle of course, I wondered what kind of damage this whole thing was going to do to the family that had tried so hard to save me.

"Esme's fine," Jasper explained. "She's in the car with Charlie. They're headed for Phoenix - just left Seattle airport not too long ago. Rose is outside, watching out for Victoria. Emmett and Alice were heading back to Forks so they ran into each other."

"Where's...Edward?" I was afraid to ask. There had to be a very, _very _good reason he was not right here right now.

"Hold on tight, Bella," Carlisle murmured, swinging the car around again. I really hope he's not particularly fond of this beautiful upholstery because if this continues, it's going to stink like fettuccine carbonara for the next decade.

...

Unfortunately, when it comes to car-versus-vampire, the vampire eventually wins. While I was starting to dream of all the milestone moments I'd miss, all the time I wouldn't get to share with Edward - all in rapid, dramatic flashes before my eyes, of course - Carlisle and Jasper were devising a plan to deal with this eventuality.

"Are you ready, Bella?" Jasper asked, undoing my seatbelt and replacing its security with his arms.

"No!" I squeaked as he dragged me onto his lap. _Ready for what?_

"When I say jump, you're going to jump out of the car and roll," Carlisle explained calmly. How can he _do _that?

"Don't worry," Jasper continued. "Just relax. I'll handle this. One thing though - I'm not going to lie. This is going to hurt."

"Ready? Three, two, one, GO!"

At Carlisle's word, Jasper and I toppled out of the car, backwards. The world was a blur of browns, oranges, and sparse greenery. We steadied just in time for a spectacular explosion, Jasper shielding me as shards of metal and glass speared the trees around us. When everything died down to a simmer, I stared in horror at the burning wreck.

"Bella, he's okay," Jasper assured me. Okay? OKAY? How could a vampire be okay after _that?  
_

"For now, that is." Carlisle sauntered into the clearing looking like the luckiest survivor in history. His clothes were singed around the edges but otherwise? Completely untouched. What's more: _he _was looking at _me _with such sad eyes...

"Carlisle!" Alice cried, flying into the clearing. "You _idiot!_ Warn me next time you plan to explode your car!"

Rose and Emmett flew into the clearing after their sister, looking surprised but relieved. In an instant, Jasper had disappeared from my side. I didn't look for him: Alice and Jasper's reunion should be a private moment for them. Instead, I noticed that Carlisle had silently decided to join me.

"All together again..." he murmured, "except two."

"Do you think Edward's okay?" I asked, sounding horribly childish as I drew my legs up to my chest. I glanced at Carlisle, who seemed to have trouble configuring his expression.

"Oh...Of course, Bella," he managed at last. "The others would have told me...if there was anything...wrong...with Edward."

I frowned and put my head on my knees. Despite the boniness, it was quite comfortable - I hadn't realised just how tired I was.

"Are we...safe here?" I asked.

"For now," Carlisle replied. "Victoria will not attack while she is so outnumbered."

I nodded repeatedly, already drifting off into my own little world. Imaginary-Edward wrapped his arms around me and whispered in my ear with that loving, hushed tone.

_"Sleep, love."_

I slept.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN ~ thanks to all the ppl who favourited and subscribed to this story! and BIG thanks to my reviewers (of which there were very few, unfortunately). I'm glad you're finding it exciting! keep 'em coming guys I 3 them!**

**BIG HUGE ENORMOUS thanks to TwilightLover-CarlisleandEsme for reading this simply because I asked her to, even though (guessing she) doesn't really read BE ffics. **

**Veruca Salt is the spoilt brat from Willy Wonka (I prefer the one in the old movie). Victoria reminds me of her :)**

**still BELLA POV**

**Disclaimer: Twilight, not mine...is this really necessary? **

Chapter Four:

"It's not safe for us to go back to Forks - besides, we have to think of a cover story _here _first. Not to mention, Charlie's dragging his butt all the way down here..." Rosalie prattled bitterly. It seemed I was always interrupting their private family consultations, so I pretended I was still asleep and...well, yes: eavesdropped.

"Rose is right," Emmett agreed. "Ha. Awesome. Goin' bush." I could picture him stretching out on a camper chair, lacing his fingers behind his head.

"_Awesome?_" Alice gasped, horrified. "It is not _awesome! _Carlisle, come on, can we please just pop into town, stay at a hotel?" Ah, those pleading Alice eyes.

"No," came the gentle but firm reply. I envisioned Alice's pout.

"Bella must be protected by at least three of us at all times," Jasper said.

"Three?" Rose was sceptical.

"Well Victoria had no problem attacking you and Esme," Jasper pointed out.

"Hate you break it to you, but Esme? She's kind of..."Someone elbowed her in the ribs before she could finish.

"Focus, everyone," Carlisle urged. "So, three guards on Bella at all times. And...has anyone gotten in touch with Edward?"

"He called me," Alice said. "I gave him coordinates. He'll be there soon. Oh, and Bella's awake."

Okay, so the cat's out of the bag now. The useless danger-magnet Bella Swan interrupts once again. I opened my eyes, surprised to find that everything was still covered in the navy-blue haze of just after midnight. Moonlight didn't make their skin shine like sunlight did, but it seemed to ripple and shimmer like water. I jumped in surprise when I realised that Alice was carrying me on a high-speed race to get away. Scenery flew past, making me dizzy.

"Have a nice sleep?" Emmett asked. Jasper grinned.

"!" I screamed, trying to escape Alice's grasp. "Where am I? Where is Mum? Where's Edward?"

"It's okay, Bella," Alice assured me in a breathy, soprano voice, leaping nimbly over something. She touched the ground lightly and gracefully, I imagined. I, on the other hand, bounced against two thin pillars of marble, and the side of my head made a loud cracking sound against her very bony shoulder.

"Sorry!" Alice squeaked. "Oh, Edward's going to have a minor heart attack when he sees you! If Victoria wasn't so close, I'd cover up those bruises for you, but-"

"Alice, pay attention!" Jasper snapped, skidding to a halt, creating a spray of dead leaves and bark. "She's here!"

Without a word, the Cullens formed a diamond around Alice and I. I took a deep breath, watching the trees as intently as they were. _God, if anything happens to them..._

Rosalie leapt into action, a blur of gold warring with Victoria's flaming red curls. Emmett followed his partner after only a few seconds, unable to resist the fight, but somehow Victoria slipped free of them both.

Rose and Emmett returned to the protective formation, frustrated. Jasper and Carlisle moved forward in unison. I would have covered my eyes if I remembered how to make my arms move. The red flames flashed through again, and Carlisle cried out as he was thrown to the floor. Jasper almost managed to grab Victoria, but she was gone again.

"Oh, no," Alice whispered slowly, backing away as quietly as she could. Suddenly, a twig cracked. Everyone gasped. Victoria hissed menacingly, creeping out of the bushes in a crouch.

"Isabella," she murmured. I'm sure I wasn't the only one surprised: she had such an airy, pathetic voice. Meanwhile, Alice's arms were trembling. She couldn't fight or climb holding me, and Victoria would very likely catch us up if she tried to run. Putting me down would be of no use: it was me Victoria wanted. That wasn't hard to miss.

"You killed my James!" Victoria declared in a painfully high-pitched voice. She stomped her foot like Veruca Salt. I could feel blood in my mouth from where I was biting my lip - I'm sure Veruca Salt wasn't a fast, strong, sneaky, bloodthirsty immortal.

"Bella..." Alice's teeth were clenched. Her fingers curled into fists. Everyone around the clearing had the same reaction, except two.

"Alice, RUN!" Carlisle ordered, lunging at Victoria's back.

Victoria dived for me with anger and now, bloodlust. Alice shrieked and twisted to take Victoria's attack, and fell herself rather than dropping me.

"Hold on, Bella," she managed to whisper as we rolled down a bank. We slammed into a tree and Alice finally let go of me. Jasper was on scene immediately. He helped her up, and as he led her back a few paces, her eyes widened into a look of pure mortification.

"Oh...Bella, I'm so sorry," she breathed, covering her mouth with one hand. Jasper growled uncomfortably and Alice led him away.

"Let me through," Carlisle's quiet voice interrupted as he edged between Emmett and Rose, who had now joined us and looked just as horrified and uncomfortable. Carlisle came to kneel beside me, gently pressing here and there, asking where it hurt. I frowned.

"I don't understand," I said. "I'm not in pain." Carlisle looked up at me.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes..." As I said it, I could feel every bruise light up, one by one, throbbing painfully. Bruises on top of bruises, even. I could feel warm blood trickling down my face, more on my arm, more on my leg. Why couldn't I feel all this before? What's wrong with me?

"Bella, calm down," Carlisle instructed, putting a hand on my back and guiding me to a horizontal position. I tried to take a deep breath. "It's just a mild concussion."

"I'll call Edward," Emmett offered, already taking out his cell.

"I'll call Esme. She can tell Charlie. He should be here soon anyways..." Rosalie looked over the top of her cell as she tapped the numbers in. Carlisle and Emmett glared at her and she shut her mouth.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN ~ ******From now on it will be Bella POV unless I say otherwise****

**I totally made up the Bono story XD though if you're interested he was born in Ireland in 1960 and grew up there.**

**2****nd**** chapter today - I need to stop spoiling you guys so much!**

**Disclaimer: characters are not mine, except Dr Wylde :)**

Chapter Five:

Carlisle was in total business mode as he checked me into the hospital. Given that he was a very well-known doctor, we got to skip the basic ER examinations. Thank God. I felt like enough of an invalid with Carlisle practically carrying me through the hallways. Pain shot up my leg every time I put it down. Maybe I'd somehow managed to screw up my ankle in the midst of all this. Great. Every inch of my outside was wounded, so I had to injure the inside too. Typical Bella.

"Okay, Bella, this is Doctor Wylde," Carlisle introduced, gesturing towards a young woman with curly blonde hair pulled back into a short pony tail. She was dazed for a moment, but unlike most medical staff in Carlisle's presence, shook it off and came to my aid.

"Whoops!" she voiced enthusiastically, catching me as I stumbled away from Carlisle. She led into a room and helped me into bed, offering me pyjamas and extra pillows and all manner of things.

"Uh, is there something I can take for the pain?" I asked.

"Of course." Doctor Wylde turned to Carlisle and they discussed what sounded like my allergies. If I wasn't so busy trying to convince myself that I _didn't _feel like vomiting, I was just hungry, I might have felt exposed at the fact that my boyfriend's father knew so much about me.

Finally, Doctor Wylde returned and slipped a needle into my arm.

"Now, Bella," she said. "This is a..." her voice faded into the background as I came to realise that the feel of the pillow beneath my head was so comforting, so welcoming, I could hardly think of anything else. I shut my eyes, savouring the warmth and - hey! 

"Bella!" Carlisle shouted. I jumped.

"What are you doing? I want to sleep!" My voice was so slurred together even I could barely understand it. I was incredibly surprised when Carlisle responded;

"I know you're tired, but you have a concussion Bella, and you mustn't fall unconscious until we know just how serious it is. We may have to remove the painkiller if it is making you drowsy."

"It's not!" I objected. "I'm awake, I swear."

"We'll book your scan for as soon as possible, sweetie," Doctor Wylde assured me with a sympathetic smile. Damn these friendly hospital staff! The two of them looked at each other for a moment, and then Doctor Wylde disappeared - hopefully to get me through one of these scans.

Carlisle pulled up a chair.

"I'll be here for a while," he explained. I put my head back on the pillow, which Carlisle would just have to live with. If he thinks I'm going to sit in a perfectly comfortable hospital bed, after being awake for God knows how long, and not even put my head on the pillow, he's got another think coming.

"Don't fall asleep, Bella," Carlisle reminded me. I grunted in response. I still hated him for this. But at least the pain was gone...ah, bliss...

"Are you awake?" he asked, a few seconds later.

"Can we talk about something interesting?" I mumbled, opening my eyes and shuffling back so I was semi-sitting. Clearly the whole head-on-pillow, eyes-closed-but-not-sleeping thing was not going to happen. I might as well enjoy my time here. "Like Edward. Edward's interesting."

Carlisle chuckled.

"He is. He's a very smart young man." He smiled proudly. "It's a shame he's not more sociable at school. He could really teach those kids a lot. Once, a few years ago, a patient of mine was bedridden for six months. Edward came to see him, and read him stories, and kept him up with school. His name was Paul Hewson."

My eyes flew open.

"You're kidding. Like..._Bono?"_

"The one," Carlisle confirmed. "Anyway, we had moved to Ireland in the '60s. I was encouraging Edward to go to school, but he refused..."

We had a long time to kill, and it was good that Carlisle had a hundred years of stories about Edward to keep me awake. Nevertheless, as soon as Doctor Wylde gave the okay for me to sleep, I was out like a light.

...

After what was hopefully days, my slumber lifted.

"Morning, Bella," a soft, female voice greeted.

"Mom?" I mumbled, straining my neck to look up.

"No, sweetie, it's Esme," she gently corrected me. "Your father's here. Carlisle's downstairs with him. The others are outside."

"Where's Edward? Is he outside?"

"No. I haven't heard from him. Are you hungry?"

I shrugged. I was hungry, but that didn't matter as much as the fact that Edward still wasn't with me. His whole family was here, and he wasn't with any of them either. Whatever was stuck in my arm was making most of the pain go away, but this burning need for Edward was driving me crazy. Where was he?

"Bella, honey, I know you miss Edward but he's only been gone one day. The fight with James was a challenging thing for him. He knows you need him. He'll come when he can. In the meantime, I think he would consider lifting Carlisle's death sentence if you looked a little less peaky by the time he gets here." Esme smiled warmly and held out a paper bag. "No trouble at all, I promise."

"Edward's mad with Carlisle?" I asked, taking the bag from her. It was a sandwich. I didn't check to see what was inside: the conversation was far more interesting.

"Not yet," Esme clarified, "but I don't think brain scans and a night in hospital was what Edward had in mind when he entrusted you to his father. Oops, sorry honey...I'd better get that."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell. Quickly reading a text and then tapping a reply with blurred fingers, she slipped it back into her pocket and grinned eagerly at me.

"Good news!" she announced. "Edward has arrived! He's downstairs in the lobby."

I jumped straight out of bed, and grimaced when a sharp tug reminded me of the needle still in my arm. Esme carefully removed it and took my arm to lead me out of the room.

"Are you sure we're allowed to do this?" I asked as we hobbled towards the elevator.

"Most overnight patients can get away with movement around the hospital," Esme replied. Suddenly, she stiffened. Her eyes plummeted from hazel to black

"What is it?" I asked, after a second or two. Esme shook her head.

"Ca- car crash victim," she explained, distracted. "I've never been in a hospital. It's difficult sometimes. Come on."

I tried not to kill myself with guilt as Esme continued to hobble along beside me. The pace was agonising enough for _me. _For her, it must have been...ow. It hurt to think about it. In fact, everything was starting to hurt again. It's going to be a long trip to the lobby.

...

Esme and I arrived downstairs at long last, and made a break for the door. Apparently Edward had moved outside for some fresh air. It took all my willpower to stop myself breaking into a run and hugging him. Nobody had told me what was wrong with my ankle, so I figured I should play it safe.

"Edward!" I cried, hobbling over as fast as I could manage. Edward was absolutely mortified.

"Bella," he murmured, enveloping me in strong, reassuring arms. "I'm so sorry."

"Sorry for what?" I wondered. "This isn't your fault. It isn't theirs either - they were just trying to keep me safe."

"No, no, Bella...this is bad, but it's not what I'm talking about at all."

I frowned.

"Then what _are _you talking about?"

"Bella..." Edward glanced at Carlisle. They had half a second of silent conversation, and then Edward's sad but empathetic golden eyes were back on mine. Usually, I would have tuned out his next words - no doubt some unnecessary worry - and just enjoyed the beautiful sound of his voice as I sunk into the oblivion those eyes held. Today was not one of those times. How could anyone ignore the words I next heard?

"Your mother is dead."


	6. Chapter 6

**AN ~ Wow! I almost forgot to update at all today! Don't be like me, be sure to vote for the FreeWriters One-Shot Contest ~ Musical Cues between the 13****th**** and 18****th**** December! **

**Also, plz don't forget to review! C'mon I'm sure you can spare a few seconds for me!**

**EDWARD POV**

Chapter Six:

Bella's eyes glazed over. She whimpered hopelessly and fell into my arms.

"Bella, shhh," I soothed, stroking her hair gently and hugging her against me as she sobbed quietly, barely making a sound.

"Nobody told her?" I glared at Carlisle. How could he have let it so far? Surely Bella must have suspected something when I hadn't returned, when everyone avoided the topic of conversation.

"I'm sorry, Edward," he said sincerely. "She was already in a panic; worried about us all, especially you. Running away from Victoria only made it worse."

"Victoria?" I snarled. Memories flashed through my father's head as he recounted what had happened. Alice, falling down a hill, desperately trying to protect Bella as the others tried to keep Victoria away.

"Victoria?" Esme echoed, looking from Carlisle's face to mine and back. "She's here? Rose and I lost her in Forks. What happened?"

My mother didn't get her explanation: Charlie stormed outside, red with rage, and halted a few feet outside the door. He reminded me of an angry bull, hesitating only to decide what his first target was to be. In his narrow vision, he had three choices: Esme, Carlisle, or me.

_Esme?_ he pondered. _No, she doesn't know any more about this than I do. Edward? Well, I'll get to him later...son of a bitch who hurt my girl...no, no, he can pay for his mistake now. _His thoughts flashed to his pistol, hand immediately reaching for his pocket. I didn't believe he'd actually fire until it was cocked and aimed at me.

"Charlie, calm down," Carlisle attempted to reason with Bella's enraged father. "We have a lot of explaining to do, but trust me, it will do you no good to pull that trigger." Firstly, it would barely scrape my skin, and certainly wouldn't leave a scar. Secondly, this would majorly freak Charlie out and thirdly, all this would leave us with even more explaining to do, and some if not all of us being added to the Volturi's extensive hit list.

"Shut up, Cullen," Charlie hissed. In his head was a storm of thoughts and emotions, the most prominent being that I was the threat to Bella, his daughter, who he'd sworn to protect. He knew he'd spend the next twenty years - if not the rest of his life - in prison, but it would be worth it if he could save his daughter, just this one time. He hadn't been there for her for several years now, and this would make it up to her, even if she never forgave him.

"NO!" Esme cried, diving for the gun as Charlie pulled the trigger. She twisted it out of his grasp and tossed it away, fuming.

"How dare you pull a gun on my son?" she roared.

"Oh my God, Dad, what are you doing?" Bella choked, pulling away from me as the stray bullet disappeared into the garden-bed fringing the car park. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the look on her father's face - still as mad as hell, but now confused as well. Suddenly, Charlie's stance lost all its aggressiveness. For a moment, I thought it was the powerful sight of his daughter, alive and safe if not exactly well. But that wasn't the only reason: his heart stuttered and seized for a second until, with a gagging sound, Charlie staggered forward.

Esme covered her mouth with both hands, eyes wide in horror, as Carlisle went to Charlie's assistance.

_I shouldn't have lashed out like that, _she scolded herself. _Oh, Edward, I knew it wasn't going to hurt you but I just couldn't bear the thought...and now..._

"Dad!" Bella cried, her voice small and seemingly insignificant. When she pressed her head against my shoulder, it felt like she stabbed me there instead. Every salty tear that fell down her face was like acid on my skin. My Bella was in pain, and I could do nothing to help her, I could only suffer along beside her.

_His cholesterol isn't too promising, but he should recover soon and without too much lasting damage, _Carlisle evaluated. _Hopefully he will be calmer when he comes around. I think we should leave him in these doctors' very capable hands for now. Bella is overloaded with stress. She needs to rest._

"She won't leave him," I explained. We'd have to chase Bella away with a pack of wolves before she'd dream of deserting an injured loved one, even one who would be receiving the best medical care the state had to offer.

_Then sit in the car with her. We'll wait here until she can at least see her father._

Carlisle disappeared into the building after two nurses who were pulling a gurney that now had Charlie's limp form strapped to it. I pulled Bella into the cabin of her rusty red garbage-heap of a truck and pulled a blanket around her.

"Charlie's going to be okay, Bella," I crooned. "He's safe, we're safe."

Bella nodded and pressed harder against my chest. Her heartbeat slowed gradually and she slowed her breathing to match mine: slow, free of stress. Eventually, she fell asleep. Lunch time passed, and it started getting dark, and Bella was still sleeping fitfully in my arms. She had cuts and bruises everywhere, but she was still as beautiful as anything. Nevertheless, I couldn't help thinking...maybe I could have prevented all those scratches and bruises if I hadn't spent so long trying to make Renee's body respectable.

Not that Renee wasn't a respectable person, or that her family and friends would judge her for being so deformed in death, but no daughter should have to see her mother like that. I mean, death was bad enough, but more than fifty bones in Renee's body had been crushed, and nearly all her blood drained. Hers had not been a quick, easy death. She was lucky she had been unconscious...or at least, we _hope _she'd been unconscious. Bella had taken the mere news of it hard enough; the proof would be another blow to her already heavily bearing mind. It would be easier for all of us if we let her believe that Renee died as quickly and easily as we could get away with.

"Edward," Bella murmured, twisting in my arms to face the other way, out into the nearly empty car lot. "Edward!" She kicked the empty air, and her eyes opened an eighth of an inch, drowsily searching for me.

"I'm here, Bella," I assured her, hugging her tighter for a moment just so she could feel my presence. "I will always be here." There was no question of that.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN ~ Sorry it's been so long, but I sort of dumped Bella in a pretty depressing place and I've been trying to figure out a way to get her out of it without being a) too depressing or b) too magical-fairy-godmother.**

**The peg thing is an actual stroke treatment thing; my Grandpa's had one. **

**Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine.**

Chapter Seven:

It wasn't too long before I was back on my feet, but when Dad could manage it, we had a funeral for Mom. Everyone was sympathetic - even Jessica who, it seemed, did not have the word in her vocabulary before now. People I didn't know passed me with an "I'm sorry about your Mom" or just a simple "What a terrible way to start Junior year," and every comment made me want to cry. I wished they'd leave me alone. Eventually, I just shut myself up in the house. Me and Dad...we'd be fine.

I dropped out of school under special conditions, being the only full-time carer for my Dad since he had to pull out of the force and I couldn't get a properly paying job yet. It was kind of a good thing, I guess. It had brought us closer, at least, and it gave me something to think about. The school books they sent me and tutors over the internet just weren't challenging enough, and with everyone in the outside world constantly gawking at us, it was a wonder we didn't just move to Tibet or somewhere and become hermits.

Edward always had work to make me think, which was good. And with him teaching me, I never failed to understand a thing. Our relationship emerged surprisingly strong out of the huge mess that had been the last two months, which was a relief. Edward was the only thing in my life not at breaking point right now. Carlisle had opted to be Charlie's personal physician, so I saw him a lot too, and Alice came over plenty. Esme often sent meals over, and she did the washing for us sometimes, and of course any and all of the Cullens were willing to "help out with the bills every now and then."

"Afternoon, Bella," Carlisle smiled and nodded at me before disappearing upstairs to help Charlie.

"Hey, Bella!" Alice greeted, hugging me in the doorway. "Edward's out hunting with Jasper and Emmett for the weekend, but I brought over some awesome stuff to do. We're gonna have loads of fun, I promise." Afternoons with Alice were always a welcome respite from my hectic life. She was sleeping over this weekend; practically a dream come true for me. Except Dad getting better...

Focusing on the positives, I smiled and invited Alice into the kitchen, where she set out a heap of art stuff everywhere: paints, crayons, charcoal. I smiled. Mom had always been really into art, but I'd never touched the stuff.

"Come on, have a go," Alice smiled at me and offered a pencil. I shook my head, but she already had me: I sat down and put the tip to the page of the nearest open sketchbook. I drew a line, and then a second...oh, who am I kidding! I have no idea what I'm doing!

"Don't give up," Alice insisted gently. "Try and draw me." She struck a Vogue pose and we both laughed.

"Okay, so, maybe start with something a little easier."

"Like what, an apple?" I rolled my eyes. What is it with art teachers and fruit?

"Exactly, an apple." Alice grinned, grabbing the nearest one from the fruit bowl.

"Use the wax pastels. And no skipping details. I want to be able to _eat _that apple when you're done!"

"You hate food."

"Yeah well..."

Suddenly, my muse was rolling along the kitchen floor. Alice clapped her hands gleefully.

"It worked! It worked!" she squealed, even more excited than usual. And believe me, for Alice, that is saying a _lot._

A moment later, Alice was dragging me up the stairs. She shoved me into Charlie's room and followed excitedly. Charlie was lying in bed, a flat board lying on his legs with holes in it for pegs, a bit like Chinese Checkers or Mastermind. Carlisle knelt beside the bed, several coloured pegs resting in his palm. Charlie would have to pick up one of the pegs and slot it into a hole with his left arm - the one worst affected by his attack earlier. I don't know what Alice was so hyped up about: Carlisle had been trying this test for weeks now.

Charlie moved his arm over slowly, reaching for Carlisle's and trembling with the effort. I crossed my fingers. _Come on, Dad, come on, Dad, _I chanted. His fingers fumbled for a peg, sending several falling to the floor.

"Agh, isn't there something else we can try?" he growled. I didn't blame him for being frustrated. Not being able to manage such a simple task must be unendingly frustrating. Carlisle, good natured as always, scooped up the pegs and smiled encouragingly at Charlie.

"You're doing so well," he insisted. "You'll get it this time."

Charlie looked doubtful, but he once again manoeuvred a shaking hand to Carlisle's. Alice became increasingly restless beside me, and I could see Carlisle fighting an enormous grin as peg after peg toppled to the ground...and Charlie had one!

"Ha ha, I've got the little sucker!" he declared proudly, holding the little blue piece of plastic up for all to see - not above his head, he couldn't quite manage that, but it was undoubtedly a gesture of victory. "Look, Bells, it's working!"

"Well done, Charlie, well done!" Carlisle declared enthusiastically. I've never seen a doctor look so satisfied with his patient - and I've seen a lot of doctors in my time, as Alice never fails to remind me.

Edward slipped through the door just then, putting a supportive arm around my waist. Alice joined Carlisle by the bed smiling and praising Charlie as he practiced the first half of the exercise over and over. He caught sight of Edward while we were in the middle of a kiss: things between Edward and Charlie had been forgiven, but Charlie insisted on playing the role of the difficult father. Even if he was half-paralysed.

"Ho, Edward!" he called, interrupting us intentionally. "Nice of you to join us!"

Charlie laughed, and that made me feel like laughing, and soon the whole room was full of it. It seemed like things were starting to look up. Little did I know, I had only tasted the smallest slice of the Forks Supernatural pie.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN ~ sorry sorry sorry for the lack of updates lately, but I hope this is a good one (enter the wolf pack! hehe) Reviews really do make my day so please please leave me a little love?**

Chapter Eight:

Edward was the first to stop laughing. He went all rigid, like he always did when he felt like something was up. Alice and Carlisle were quick to follow suit. As per usual, Carlisle was the quickest to recover.

"Edward, Alice, why don't you go downstairs with Bella and help her make tea," he suggested with a strained smile. Edward nodded and Alice sprung over to us with enthusiasm.

"Right! Come on, Bella! Let's see what this kitchen of yours has got!" Even for Alice, this was a little weird. She prodded me towards the door and to the stairs.

"What- hey! Alice- what- why-" Between them, Alice and Edward herded me downstairs. Once we were in the kitchen, I turned to face them.

"Would anyone like to tell me what's going on?" I demanded, putting my hands on my hips in an attempt to look demanding. Edward smirked.

"Everything's fine, Bella," Edward assured me. The doorbell rung, and Alice nearly jumped out of her skin. Strange - usually she would have seen whoever it was by now, and either told me to get the door, or answered it herself. Pursing my lips as I tried to figure it out, I answered the door.

"Oh hey, Jake!" I smiled. I took a step back and looked him up and down. Wow, he had changed a lot in the last few months: I had seen him at the funeral, same old lovable Jake, but now? Now he was massively tall - as tall as Jasper, I estimated - and through his shirt I could see a nice six-pack coming along. Even his face was different. It wasn't the goofily-grinning Jake that I remembered. His eyes were dark and hard, his lips tight.

"Hey Bells," he mumbled, shoving past me and into the kitchen.

"Jacob, what the hell?" What is _wrong _with everyone today? Shoving Jacob as hard as I could, I pushed past him and into the kitchen. Alice and Edward were tense, eyes black, muscles clenched. Alice hissed.

"Bella," Edward commanded through clenched teeth. "Get out of the way."

"_Bella _get out of the way?" Jacob was fuming. "Why don't _you _get out of the way, leech! You're not supposed to be here."

"It's our side of the line, mongrel," Edward spat.

"We amended the treaty," Jacob growled. "After what happened in Phoenix, Bella has been assigned La Push protection."

"WHAT?" Edward ground his teeth together. "_Who _amended the treaty?"

"The redhead."

"Esme?" Alice's furiousity was gone. She looked confused.

"I don't know her _name - _what am I, an encyclopaedia?"

"Esme wouldn't do that," Edward shook his head. "At least, not without discussing it with Carlisle. He doesn't know what's going on either."

"Besides, she is _not _a redhead," Alice stuck her nose up.

"Well this one was - curly red hair like a bloody beacon!" Jacob waved his arms around his head to illustrate.

Edward and Alice glanced at each other fearfully. A shiver ran through me. I was paralysed for a moment - Victoria?

"Guys," I interrupted, swallowing my fear. "I don't know if you realise, but I still have _no freaking clue _what is going on here. Jake, why are you here? Where's Billy? Alice, why didn't you see him? Edward, what's this 'line' and 'treaty' and what do they mean to me? If they're that important, how could Victoria have messed with them?"

Ignoring me, Edward grabbed Jacob's arm and hauled him into the back yard.

"Everything you know, we need to know too. Out loud, for the others present, please." He raised his lips, showing off a row of predatorial, rock-hard, venom-slicked teeth. Jacob huffed and looked at me.

"Bella, you know how I told you those legends about the vampires?" His tone was much more civilised now that he was speaking to me.

"Yes," I replied slowly, narrowing my eyes in suspicion.

"Well, do you- do you remember the other one I told you? The one about the w- the w-"

Every time Jacob tried to say it, he seemed to chase his tongue. He turned his head to the side as if trying to catch it. As if it was controlling itself. This day was getting weirder by the minute.

"Wolves," Edward supplied.

"Wolves?" I could feel my eyebrows shoot up my forehead. "Yeah...and?"

"Well, my, uh...my pe- my p-" Frustrated, Jacob growled.

"Your people?" I guessed. He nodded.

"People..." Edward rolled his eyes.

"Edward!" I was shocked. "Just because you came from a different time where this sort of thing was okay, doesn't give you an excuse! If there's one thing I will not tolerate, it's _racism! _Is that what this thing is all about?"

I looked from Edward to Jacob and back.

"No!" Edward looked shocked, but his face was still twisted in disgust. He reached out to grab my arm, and Jacob snarled. Suddenly, there was a loud tearing sound. Edward spun around, shoving me backwards with his shoulder. I looked over it, knowing better than to try and push Edward aside, and saw that Jacob was gone. In his place stood a huge - I'm talking horse-sized - wolf.

"Ja- Ja- Jake- Jacob?" I gasped. The wolf made a grumbling sound, and nodded his enormous head.

"Back off," Edward growled. The wolf - Jacob - lifted his lips and snarled. I wrinkled my nose a little at his dog breath. Edward wretched, shoulders heaving.

The rest of the Cullen family dashed to our aid, standing between me and the wolf. Esme attempted to drag me back into the house.

"Woah, woah, woah," I battled to free my arms as she hauled me into the living room. "Put me down! Esme! Ow!"

Esme dropped me immediately.

"I'm sorry, honey," she said, brushing off my clothes. "I didn't think properly. I just had to get you away from...them." She glared out the window, at Jacob. I followed her gaze to see that Jacob wasn't alone now. His rust-brown fur stood out; he was in the middle. On his left was a black one, and on his right a chocolate brown one, and on the outsides, two grey-brown ones.

"Five of them?" My eyes widened. "How many _are _there?"

I turned back to find that Esme had disappeared. My hands were fixed to the door handle with...cable ties? Ah, brilliant. I'm stuck here until one of these guys gets their senses back and lets me go.

I struggled for a good view as everyone outside regrouped. Carlisle and the black wolf were the furthest forward on their own sides; everyone else was in a line behind their leader. Carlisle and the black wolf seemed to talk things over, and eventually both sides retreated, disgruntled but uninjured. The wolves disappeared into the trees, and the Cullens returned to the house.

"Sorry, sweetie," Esme said, snapping the cable ties with her bare hands.

Before the majority of the Cullen family could leave the property, I leapt up onto the couch, standing above everyone - except maybe Jasper - and whistled loudly.

"OI! I DEMAND TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON!"

I wasn't the only one speaking. Everyone turned to the stairs, searching for the source of the second voice. It wasn't hard to find: Charlie, standing on the bottom step, leaning heavily on the banister as his leg didn't work properly yet. His face was red. He looked furious, and...utterly confused.

"Were those _wolves _outside? They were huge!" he continued. "What's going on? Bells? Doctor Cullen?"

To use a clichéd but fitting phrase:

The silence was deafening.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN ~ Hey guys! Yeah I know, it's been aaaaaaaaaaaaages! Good news is I've got a 5 day weekend and I'm planning to use it to update my fics! Any of you that read Once Twice Three Times (A Ten/Rose Doctor Who fic of mine) will probably have noticed and I'm planning to spread the love to some other stories. This chap is not particularly long because I decided to break it into two parts and the end of this one is where it split best. Just remember, this story is non-canon plot but it IS in a canon universe so the same things have to be considered that were bearing down on Bella's eventual decision from before I broke canon**

**Disclaimer: Twilight is not mine but I am REALLY EXCITED to see Breaking Dawn! I want to hug Jacob after seeing that teaser trailer...poor guy...**

**anyway...**

Chapter Nine:

Before I could tell what had happened, my father was limp in Carlisle's arms, the top of his head just inches from the floor. Carlisle frowned and gently lowered my father the rest of the way. I felt the sudden urge to punch something. Instead, I yelled.

"What the HELL did you do that for?"

"I didn't want to," Carlisle explained. "Trust me, though; it's better for him in the long run."

"Why? Why is it better? Why couldn't you just tell him?" I turned around, searching for a face sympathetic to my case. I should have known: if Carlisle the King of Sympathy didn't understand, nobody would.

"Bella," Rose started. "Our life is crazy enough with one human knowing. The last thing we need is to draw another-"

"YOUR life? I can't believe this! You don't age, you're super-smart and super-fast and super-strong and YOUR life is crazy? I'm sorry, it's only _my mother _that died because of this!"

"Bella, I'm sorry sweetheart. Please, calm down," Esme begged.

"Bella," Jasper murmured, soothing me with his powers. Damn him! 

"My dad loved her! Why can't we tell him? Why can't we tell my Dad why my Mum is dead?"

"Bella, I'm sorry." Finally. The one voice who could stop my rampage. Edward gently took my hand and encouraged me down from the couch, before wrapping his arms around me. "I really am sorry that we can't tell your father, and I'm sorry for Rose's insensitivity just now, but there is a legitimate reason we can't tell your father about us or the wolves."

"I'd like to hear it!" 

Edward put his hands on my shoulders and twisted me around so that I faced Carlisle. I smiled bashfully, hoping I had not offended him, and he nodded reassuringly before sitting on the bottom step; close to Charlie but prepared to tell a story. Rose and Emmett quietly took their leave, and at the back of the room, Jasper wrapped his arms around Alice. They murmured to each other, distracted within their own little world. Esme slipped into the kitchen and I heard her fill the kettle. It had taken Carlisle an unusually long time to speak.

"Bella," he sighed at last. "What you have to understand about our world is that it's far more similar to your own than many people – human and vampire alike – would prefer to believe. There is amazing goodness and compassion, talent and generosity, cleverness and curiosity and creativeness beyond all boundaries..."

As he spoke, his eyes went a little distant, remembering proof he had witnessed of all these things.

"And hope," he added, coming back to the present. "Beautiful hope. But there is a darker side. Vengeance and greed, violence and blood lust, and such terrible destruction..."

I was intrigued. This was shaping up to be the prologue to a very dramatic story.

"There is a small group – a family, of sorts, though not like ours – of vampires who live in a village called Volterra, near Florence, Italy. A long time ago – long before Edward, long before me, deep in the midst of the darkest of the dark ages, they took over ruling the vampire world. They're complex people but, when you get to the heart of it, they uphold the law with an iron fist."

The tension in the room warned me that there was a very specific meaning behind Carlisle's choice of words.

"There are more archaic things about vampires than our tendencies to keep journals and listen to classical music – old fashioned laws with very strict, very harsh punishments. Fortunately, there aren't many of them that are easily enforced now that cities are spreading and our species are being driven to the fringes. Only a few remain painstakingly monitored. One of the most utmost is the secrecy of our kind. Those who choose to taint this secrecy face being torn apart and burnt to dust. Destroyed.

"We have already taken quite a risk revealing ourselves to you, Bella – and, if I may say so, with its contribution to Edward's happiness and well-being, I wouldn't have it any other way – but I would be incredibly surprised if Aro doesn't already know about our disobedience. The last thing we need is another human involved, especially one close to you. If Aro already knows about you, which is likely, and he has not come to destroy us yet, it means he is intrigued by you, but if Charlie finds out, Aro will know that he cannot trust you to halt the spread of knowledge."

Carlisle fell silent, leaving me to imagine the consequences of such a situation. It made me feel sick. My fingers tightened around Edward's arms where he had wrapped them around my waist. My eyes fell to my father's face, which has lost its red hue of rage. I felt myself tearing up.

"If you need anything just call, sweetheart," Esme offered quietly, pressing a large mug of hot chocolate into my hands and giving me a soft, maternal kiss on the forehead. She retreated and I saw Charlie had been moved. Carlisle was now standing at the base of the stairs.

"I've taken him back up to bed," he explained. "He may experience some mild amnesia...best you treat all this as a dream."

I nodded, and then, after a final warm, sympathetic smile from each of them, Carlisle and Esme left. Edward's arms loosened and I sighed, collapsing onto the lounge with my hot chocolate.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN ~ Hello again, twilight readers...for those of you who don't read Stars, this is my chance to apologise for taking so long to update any of my twi-fics. My absence, while mostly too busy to write ANYTHING, has been contributed to a Doctor Who AU 10Rose fic (you'll know if you watch it, otherwise don't worry) called Once Twice Three Times, which I'm sure many who are interested in have already read, and more recently...*drumroll please*...a Castle fic called 'Feeling the Heat': I would love it if anyone interested would have a read of a hopefully good story and drop me a review! Check out the summary in its chap 1 AN or just drop me a line for more info. Thanks guys**

**Disclaimer: Twilight isn't mine, but I watched Eclipse again the other day and I want a pet wolf! Aren't they adorable? Esp. Seth *hugs him and ruffles his hair* Also, can't wait to see Charlie's reaction to finding out about the whole thing...**

Chapter Ten:

"This wasn't part of the deal, Edward," I said, staring into the warm brown liquid, its scent rising to meet me but inspiring no particular desire to drink. "I wanted to be with you forever. Are you saying that my father can never know? That I'll just disappear one day and he'll be alone? No explanations, no closure?"

"I tried to frighten you off. I told you our world was not as simple and wonderful as it may seem on the surface. And never once did I say you had to disappear. I love you exactly as you are. You need not become one of us to be beautiful to me."

Edward tenderly brushed a lock of hair out of his way and kissed my cheek. I snorted.

"You told me _you _weren't as simple and wonderful as you may seem. Complicated, I might believe, but the suggestion that you are anything but wonderful is and forever will be a lie."

"I appreciate the sentiment, Bella." Edward chuckled warmly.

"...but this makes my decision harder. I love you, I do, but I can't leave Charlie alone, Edward. I'm the only thing he's got left."

"You don't have to leave him," Edward insisted. "In fact, this is exactly my point. You should not have to leave your life behind."

"What life? I don't go to school, I don't have any friends, other than you guys, and-"

"And you look after your father, who loves you very much. You have a big heart, Bella – I trust there is room in it for the both of us."

"But _I love you," _I sniffed. "I always will. And you're not going to want me when I'm thirty, forty, fifty, let alone a hundred."

"Ha! Bella, I have never known you to be so vain. There is no need to fret, I promise you. For as long as you want me, I will heed your every beck and call."

"I don't want to beck and call, I-"

"Did you know; physically, Esme is three years older than Carlisle?" Edward pointed, trying to be helpful.

"Didn't men always marry women older than themselves back then?" I retorted. "Back to m-"

"Oh, she's not older. Two centuries younger actually."

I scowled. He had once been so reluctant to share stories of his family history with me, but when it suits him, sure he'll happily reveal details. Edward, seeing my irritation, decided to stop interrupting and pushing information, and began to casually explain.

"What I mean is, Bella, when you're like us, time doesn't matter. Age is irrelevant – it is experience that makes a person, and experience that changes them. _Experience_ creates beauty; not immortality and certainly not youth. Please try to see that."

"That's not the point!" I snapped, frustrated. Mostly because he was sounding very convincing, and it _was_ – in part – my point. "I want to commit myself to you, Edward. Forever. What happens if something goes wrong? Or even if it doesn't, when I die? What will you do – move on at the drop of a hat, or wallow in sadness for the rest of your life? I don't want either of those things to happen. It may sound selfish or vain but it's true."

After a moment, Edward very carefully removed the hot chocolate from my hands and put it on the coffee table. He took both my hands in his and leaned in, locking his dark eyes onto mine with such intensity that I felt a shiver run down my spine.

"Bella, listen to me. When I lose you – and hopefully, that will not be for a very long time – I plan on following you into the afterlife as soon as possible."

"I- uh-" His response had tied my tongue into a knot. My eyebrows almost reached my hairline and I stared at him incredulously. "_What?"_

"I can't live without you. Whether you change or not, I plan on living with you through your long and happy life, and then following you to the land of the dead. Or at least trying...I doubt our two souls would end up in the same place, if I even have one..."

"What's this about your soul? And are you _crazy? _Does your family know about this?" I spluttered.

"My family...will understand."

"So no."

"Not _exactly,_" he corrected. "But they know the connection I feel. They share it with their own mates. There's no way Jasper could go on without Alice, Rosalie without Emmett...they'll respect my decision because they know there'd be no other way for them."

"Well, are you going to tell them? Like, visit them or something when the time comes?" Edward wanted to stay with me for the rest of my life, apparently, but that didn't mean I could expect his family to chain themselves to my side.

Edward didn't respond. I struggled to draw breath.

"So you're just going to disappear?"

"Not exactly," Edward said again. "I suspect the Volturi will deliver the news as soon as they've finished with me."

_In. Out. In. Out. _Was he serious? Was he really going to do that to his family? I couldn't imagine what Dad would go through if he found out he'd just lost me – worse, that I'd taken my own life, taken myself from him.

"I'm sorry," Edward murmured with a small smile. "I'm scaring you."

I realised I was staring, and blinked hurriedly to make up. I reached for the hot chocolate, in the hope that drinking it would give me a chance to gather my thoughts. Edward was right, he was scaring me. Something which, despite his best efforts, he hadn't been able to do – even by showing me what he was, and that he had killed people.

Claggy, lukewarm chocolate attempted to find its way down my throat and I coughed, almost choking on its unexpected texture, and decided to abandon the drink. Edward took it from me and disappeared into the kitchen. He stayed there a longer time than necessary, and after a few seconds I stopped hearing him move around.

"Edward?" I called, looking around myself with the organ-crushing sensation that the house was looming over me. "Edward...please come back."

It was too quiet. I held my breath. Finally, Edward padded softly, gracefully, back across the lounge room.

"It's getting late," he informed me with a low, solemn voice. "You should go to bed."

I glanced at the clock and snorted.

"Late? Edward it's six o'clock."

"I need to talk with Carlisle. You should sleep." He was still standing in the middle of the room, a few yards away from me. His eyes were as black as pitch and shiny, like onyx, but he didn't look aggressive. He just looked very sad.

"What do you need to talk about?" I tried not to sound too demanding, but panic kept rising in my voice. This wasn't my Edward; it wasn't like him. "Edward? What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, love. I have to go. Get some rest, and I'll be back in the morning."

"Edward, wait!"

Too late. I sighed and shuffled deeper into the cushions, fiddling absently with a tassel on my jacket. I waited for Edward to return, worried that he was scaring me and determined, if not to tell me everything, to hold me until I fell asleep.

He didn't.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN ~ Hey guys, sorry I took so long, I've been really busy and my spare time has been wrapped up in my Castle fic 'Feeling the Heat': there's loose ends red herrings stalkers kidnapping and of course Caskett :) I'd love it if you'd check it out.**

**I've already written the next chap of this so hopefully it won't be as long to get to you XD**

**This chap is ED POV...it's quite the shot out of the blue that sent him shooting out of Bella's humble abode.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. As of recently, I own a copy of Lady Antebellum's new single and I LOVE IT!**

Chapter Eleven

I could hear the distress in Carlisle's mind not long after he left the house – he had scarcely set foot outside, actually. On the door mat there sat an abandoned newspaper. He had thought about dropping it into the house for Bella, but didn't want to disturb Bella and I in the middle of what was likely an intimate and somewhat awkward conversation, given the events of the day. Nevertheless, he had accidentally glanced upon the breaking news on the front page, and it had frozen him in his tracks.

_Denali National Park up in flames._

He was not one to leap into panics, but knowing that was the current location of several of our dearest friends, it was enough to send a chill through his veins.

The power of his thoughts struck me as Bella began to splutter through her hot chocolate. I tried to push them out, to give he and Esme privacy, but the shock of it had Carlisle's mind screaming in agony. I retreated to the kitchen and tried to make sense of what I was hearing.

_It's not working, it's not working, _he fretted. As I listened, the scenery around became apparent. It was a blur of green and brown in different shades – a forest, though Carlisle at this point didn't care much for their surroundings. Esme stood across from him, watching with large, concerned eyes, her mouth hanging just a little bit open...she always looked just that little bit different through my father's eyes.

"Carlisle, what's going on?" she asked, her voice out of sync with the movement of her lips because of Carlisle's confusion.

"I tried calling them, all of them, and it didn't work." Carlisle's voice echoed as I heard it first in his thoughts and then in his auditory processing. "It's an emergency number. This is the one they always answer." _We made a deal. If either family was in trouble...they should have called us by now...or at least pick up. Please, Tanya, pick up._

_Oh, love..._A softer, feminine voice now. It was familiar – Esme. Her thoughts were quieter than Carlisle's, a jumble of murmured panics and reassurances, not sure what to believe but knowing only that Carlisle was hurting.

As other familiar beacons, the minds of the rest of the family, began to come into range, I made my decision: I had to leave Bella with her thoughts and get out there as soon as possible.

.o.o.o.

"Carlisle, is everything okay?" Alice fretted, arriving the same time I did to the clearing in which Carlisle and Esme were standing, now together. Jasper was only a step behind her, and Rose and Emmett were already here.

"I don't mean to be unreasonable," Carlisle apologised, his native English accent curbing the untraceable American one he had picked up over the years.

"Unreasonable? No," Rosalie shook her head, a rarely seen gentility towards her father softening her expression. "They're friends. It's perfectly understandable that you worry for them. Tanya should have made contact by now."

"Starting to not help," Emmett murmured. Rosalie fell silent. Jasper took the opportunity to calm everyone down. Carlisle's panicked thoughts began to settle into the general melee of concern for our friends which emanated from everyone present. Suddenly, the finale of Berlioz's _Symphonie Fantastique _burst from the tiny speaker in Carlisle's pocket. We all jumped in shock.

"You couldn't pick something a little more subtle?"

"It's the emergency number," Carlisle explained, pulling out his cell with shaking fingers. "I wanted it to be noticeable."

He flicked the phone open to his ear and closed his eyes, relieved in anticipation of hearing Tanya's voice. He received a nasty surprise when his friend burst into sobs on the other end of the line.

"_Those bastards got the others, Carlisle!" _she wailed. She was so loud, we could all hear the conversation._"I couldn't do anything...I was too far away...I failed my sisters. I failed them all."_

"Who, Tanya?" Carlisle asked, breathless. "Who took them? Why?" 

"_I don't know! We haven't done anything wrong, I swear."_

"I believe you," Carlisle assured her. _And even if you had..._

"_It was the Volturi. Jane, Alec, Caius and a bunch of the guard. Kate got herself beaten to within an inch of her life...I think they're going to charge her with assault above her position. Irina tried to defend her, and now Carmen and Eleazer are involved in the whole mess as well. Help me, Carlisle!"_

"Take a deep breath," Carlisle instructed, though his mind was reeling with the information about the Volturi, frightfully close to the leaders he feared rather than the ones he liked to believe he lived under. Snivelling, Tanya obeyed her friend's suggestion. She repeated the action a few times to gather herself together.

"_I'm sorry, I- I'm just so..." _She lapsed into Russian too fast for me to catch, but Carlisle didn't miss it. He listened sympathetically, forehead creased in concern, until his friend finished, breathing hard.

"It's okay," he crooned. "Where can we meet you?"

"_We?" _I could hear the grimace in her tone.

"Yes, the whole family's here," he replied.

"_Oh God. That's embarrassing." _Tanya snorted, a brave attempt at laughter. Suddenly, there was a rustle in the bushes behind us. It was just the slightest sound, the very smallest of movements, but there was something in the air that made us all stand to attention like startled deer.

"_What was that?" _Tanya whispered.

"Where can we meet you?" Carlisle repeated, a new sense of urgency quickening his words.

"_Ten miles in from the coast, right on the Canadian border. There's a hiker's hut near there; I'll be waiting."_

Tanya hung up, and Carlisle tucked the phone away without looking down. The rest of the family was beginning to settle, but that rustle earlier still had him on high alert. When there was a second and a third, similar and closer together, the rest of us formed a V with him and Esme at the point, facing the sound. I heard the confirmation in his mind only an instant before I saw the defining dark grey cloaks emerge from the shadows.

Volturi.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN ~ WHOOT! One more exam to go, and then I'm off to Breaking Dawn! I'm so excited! :) Anyway, my holidays are coming up so hopefully that means more updates! Excited about that too. Looking fwd to weeks of reading and writing for my own fun. That has not happened in a looooooong time.**

**Disclaimer: Twilight is not mine but HUGS FOR JAKE! Ok, so it wasn't gonna work out. Shame. I like the guy. Also hugs for Seffers, coz he's adorable.**

**Anyway...**

Chapter Twelve

"Carlisle Cullen," a cold, harsh, world-weary voice droned from the under the cowl of the central figure. I would have guessed it was Marcus but for the bloodthirstiness of the thoughts that accompanied it. It was as though the entire scene had been dyed red. "After that little scare, it's no wonder you are expecting us."

Carlisle straightened and pushed Esme further behind the shield of his shoulder.

"Caius," he nodded tightly. "What brings you to this region, may I ask?"

"I heard some friends of yours were in danger. I thought I might warn you against rash actions before they make life harder for the both of us."

"Hm." Carlisle was not remotely inclined to remain in the company of our visitors – Caius was the only one of the brothers Carlisle had never lost any friendship over. Unlike Aro and Marcus, his bloodthirstiness and sense of power were not clouded by intrigue, sorrow, or a love of the arts. If it weren't for the triangle of power the brothers shared, vampire world would be a truly brutal place.

Lowering the cowl of his cloak to reveal a blank yet acidic stare, lanky blond Caius stepped forward. He sighed exasperatedly at Carlisle and then looked pointedly at me.

"I actually came to speak to this one."

Esme ground her teeth together audibly, but knew better than to object. I stepped forward, standing beside Carlisle.

"My name is Edward," I offered.

"Oh, I know," Caius shrugged. "But we are not fans of paperwork, where I come from. The dead are the dead. Jane?"

Defensive responses from my family flooded my mind – some louder and more profanity-ridden than others – but to the rest of the gathering, they remained silent, though increasingly agitated. A shorter figure than the first joined Caius ahead of their ranks. With dainty, feminine fingers, they pushed back the cloak, revealing the venom-perfected face of a fourteen-year-old girl. Jane.

"We have come by information which informs us that you are intimately involved with a human. Is this true?" Her voice was soft, almost American though I couldn't be totally sure, but there was a certain foreboding in the airiness of her tone.

"Yes." There was no point denying it, even if it weren't true. I had seen enough of Carlisle's memories to know that.

"Care to elaborate?" Jane raised an eyebrow. Through her head flashed images, memories of people in pain – including Carlisle – bent double or spread-eagled, clutching at invisible bands around their heads.

"No." I wasn't going to give Bella up, whatever they thought they could do. Instead of unleashing her wrath, however, Jane merely shrugged.

"That's fine. I can manage. Her name is Isabella Swan, but she prefers Bella. She likes Italian but prefers pasta over pizza. She lives in an old white house with her dad, who was a police officer until a stroke left him bed-ridden."

I was shocked. I wasn't the only one.

"How do you know that?" Emmett interjected, the question on everyone's mind.

"You might want to ask Esme about that," Jane suggested, locking eyes with my mother.

"What did she do?" Carlisle demanded. "Allegedly."

"Allegedly? She called Aro's personal number and confessed everything."

"I see," Carlisle nodded, though he didn't for one instant believe the accusations. He widened his audience to include Caius and the row of three remaining guard at the back of the small clearing, still half-hidden in shadow. "Was anyone here a witness to this _alleged_call?"

"I was," Caius admitted. In his mind, he studied Esme. He had a much more lustful way of seeing her than I noticed in most vampires, who had the good sense to see she was taken and keep their hands to themselves. Unfortunately, Caius had a higher rank than Carlisle; if he could convince his brothers, he could have any one of us he wanted, but the Volturi didn't see any reason to interfere with such a trivial matter. I doubt Caius has even voiced his desires. From what I've heard of Aro, he would disapprove of his brother acting in such an ungentlemanly manner. Then again, from what I've heard of Aro, he has a pretty warped system of morality.

"Step forward," Jane demanded. Carlisle opened his mouth to object but Esme elbowed him out of the way and obeyed Jane.

"Talk," Jane snapped.

"My name is Esme Cullen," she began uncertainly. "I was born in Ohio..."

_This__is__not__the__one,_Caius decided, replaying the voice from the phone call and comparing it with Esme's. A growl rolled in my throat when I recognised the caller's voice. Victoria.

"Stop," I snarled, cutting off my mother's recitation of her life story.

"Excuse me?" Jane looked absolutely stunned. From the sound of her thoughts, as well as her expression, she honestly hadn't believed anyone would dare oppose her.

"Caius knows Esme is not to blame," I continued to explain. "I heard the voice in his thoughts. It was Victoria."

"My dear master is perhaps mistaken," Jane objected, surprised at the determination with which I spoke against her. "You see, she confessed. She left her name at the end of the call, did you not?" Jane raised an eyebrow at Esme.

"_What_call?" Esme asked, anger and fear adding bite to her flustered tone. "I'm afraid I honestly don't know-"

"God damn it!" Rosalie cried, stomping her foot in irritation. "I'm gonna _tear__that__wolf__apart!_I bet that redhead overheard the confusion and thought she could get away with identity theft. That's what it is."

"Either way, the call was made to get us in trouble," Jasper pointed out. _Edward,__if__Victoria__made__the__call__then__she__knows__the__Volturi__are__coming__for__us.__This__could__just__be__a__diversion._

"But Edward admitted to being involved with a human. All of us saw it, just now. What kind of trickery do you claim this time?" Jane's tone was still calm, as her mind cleverly identified another route down which to chase us. She raised an eyebrow at Jasper, challenging him to reply. I shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot: he was right, this could just be a diversion, but I didn't want to leave the rest of my family at a time like this. Besides, the Volturi might have guards tail me and I'd lead them right to Bella!

"That was no trickery," I confessed. "It is true."

"I _know.__" _Jane was getting frustrated with me ruining her fun. She knew the answers to all the questions she asked. It was getting the answers from the horse's mouth which she enjoyed. And when she couldn't have that...well, she wasn't going to let it ruin her fun.

I braced for the agony, determined not to surrender a thing more about Bella, just in case I let something slip that she didn't already know. What I didn't count on – foolish of me, really – was the obvious bonds between the members of our family. Jane was not an idiot. She hit us right where it hurts.

"Esme!" Carlisle choked, breaking rank as Esme fell to the ground. She didn't make a sound, but flooding through her head were warring images of pain - the faceless, abusive husband from her former life – and peace; Carlisle.

_Edward,_she warned, _get__to__Bella__NOW._

I did immediately as she asked, sprinting into the trees as fast as my legs would carry me. Jane redoubled her efforts, furious at Esme's lack of cooperation. Everyone else's fear and panic was yelling in my ear and murmuring with concern in the deepest pits of my subconscious. Among the clamour, I noticed that the Volturi guard had observed my disappearance and consciously decided not to chase me. This frightened me. I redoubled my efforts to get to Bella, terrified of what I might find.

.o.o.o.

Bella POV:

"Wow, Dad, that's some dream," I nodded slowly, pretending to ponder what Charlie had just told me – and pretending that I had never seen the giant wolves he was talking about.

"They were like horses, Bella!" Charlie repeated. "And Doctor Cullen was talking to one of them as if they could understand each other. I tell ya, I gotta lay off those pain killers."

"Yeah, sounds like it," I agreed. The doorbell went off downstairs and I all but shot down the stairs. Edward must be back.

I hauled the door open, ready to demand why he had left so suddenly, and found myself looking into the unrealistically angelic face of another vampire. But this wasn't any of the Cullens' friends, at least not those I had seen in photos. In fact, he looked too young to be a vampire – fourteen, fifteen. He had Bieber hair. What kind of a vampire is this?

One in a black cloak. It screamed _bad__omen._

"Isabella Swan?" he asked. "I'm Alec. The Volturi has some questions for you."


	13. Chapter 13

**AN ~ OMG just watched Breaking Dawn it was EPIC! So intense! (when the credits start DON'T walk out of the cinema!) Got inspired to fire out some more chapters of Life is Harder and Stars and probs my other Twilight fics too...but after the wait I've made you guys sit through, you deserve it.**

**Disclaimer: Twilight is not mine, but I think Aro is the creepiest anything ever. Brilliant characterisation, imho**

**Bella POV.  
**

Chapter Thirteen:

I backed away from the door as Alec and several taller, black-cloaked, equally ominous beings slung into the kitchen with an intoxicating grace. I stared out the doorway at the darkening night for a few seconds after they had passed, bewildered.

"So, Ms Swan," Alec beckoned, making me turn around. He was standing at the base of the stairs, smiling slightly. His accompaniment had disappeared. My jaw flapped like a fish as I tried to respond to him and simultaneously work out what exactly was going on.

_They're complex people but, when you get to the heart of it, they uphold the law with an iron fist._

_I suspect the Volturi will deliver the news as soon as they've finished with me._

"I presume, by that rather amusing expression, you know something of who I am," Alec went on.

"S-something," I conceded. He chuckled softly at my ignorance, but while equally as velveteen, it was so much more malicious than Edward's.

"Speak up, speak up," he tutted. "You Americans usually get rather worked up over your right to defend yourself, usually. Freedom of speech, natural justice, blah blah blah..."

"Exactly. I- I demand to know-" I tried to think back to Civics and Citizenship; we had learned the basics of court principles and procedures while I was busy wondering why Edward was not in town but the rest of the Cullens were.

"I demand to know the case against us!" A second voice – a very welcome voice – took the words right out of my mouth: Edward had come bursting through the door in a very Prince-Charming fashion.

"Ah, Edward. So nice to finally meet you."

Alec's raw smile took all possibility of hospitality from his words. I shuddered at Edward's expression, glaring deep into Alec's eyes as if wishing a million plagues on him. Suddenly, the hatred fell out of it. Edward glanced upstairs, and his eyes widened.

He glanced at me. Our eyes locked, and it didn't take me long to pick up his fear.

_Charlie._

Both vampires shot upstairs, and I followed as fast as I could. Of course, being me, I stacked the last step and stumble-hobbled into Charlie's room with two massive bruises forming on my shins. I didn't let them bother me though: there were three vampires in black cloaks standing around my sleeping father's bed.

A low growl emanated from Edward's throat and he stormed up to one of them.

"Aro," he snarled. "Tell Jane to get out of my mother's head. Now."

"Edward!" This Aro person greeted Edward as if they were long lost friends, throwing back his hood to reveal an aristocratic nose and a ghost-pale face framed by black hair. His ruby eyes looked mad, but not in a sadistic way exactly. Just a little bit _crazy._

"Your mother..." he was saying, as if he couldn't recall the meaning of the word. "Ah, yes, how is dear Esme?"

"She'll be better once Jane stops torturing her." Edward's tone was a little more controlled now, aware that he was in powerful company, but his anger was far from concealed. I couldn't blame him: my nails dug into my palms at the thought that someone was hurting Esme.

Aro nodded and Alec disappeared out the window. Edward backed away from the black cloaks, and I put my hand on his tightly clenched bicep before summoning the strength to speak.

"W-What are you doing here?"

My voice was small. Like it had been sucked away by the size of the room...only, Charlie's room wasn't that big.

Aro's eyes lit up and he started laughing.

"So, this is the famous Bella Swan," he crooned. His voice was strangely airy. I thought it would be a little more intimidating...not that this wasn't creepy enough. "_Enchanté.__"_

"Yeah. Me too." I swallowed hard and took one fragile, frightening step in front of Edward. "But I said, what are you doing here?" 

"It's a shame really," Aro explained, after a moment's hesitation. "I'm afraid I'm here to kill you."

.o.o.o.

Edward POV:

It was at that moment I realised that there was only one heartbeat in the room. Bella seemed to notice the same time I did – she flung herself at her father's bed and lay over him, begging him to wake up. Tears were streaming down her face. I could smell the saltiness from here. In her cries, I could hear her pain.

"How dare you," I growled at Aro. "He didn't know anything."

"But he did," Aro smiled ruefully, and the Volturi to his right – Demetri, the tracker - passed a small notebook across the room to me. I opened it, and found a heap of scribbles along the lines of Carlisle working through a great many of his lunch breaks, scraps of food scattered through the woods around our house, and of course, Bella's suspicions about my strengths over 'the Almost Accident.'

"This is nothing," I objected. My eyes kept being drawn to Bella, no matter how hard I tried to stop them: drawn to the tears that splashed down on her father's unconscious face. My own pain over this threatened to strangle me, but I kept trying.

"This is mere suspicion. When came time to confront us over it, Carlisle could have easily smoothed this over. _Easily.__"_

"Concussions don't always last, though," Aro pointed out.

"You know about that?"

"I know every thought this man has ever had."

"You had no right-"

_And__you__have__none__either,_Aro's thoughts reminded me. _But__just__as__you__cannot__help__hearing__me__now,__I__could__not__help__hearing__him__when__I__broke__his__neck._

I felt like I was going to be sick, but I was glad Bella had not heard that. Unfortunately, she had recognised the bruising pattern.

"You _sicko!__" _she roared, charging out of the bed and at Aro. I grabbed her arm and pulled her back towards me, but she fought me every instant.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" she screamed. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

Aro was unfazed. In fact, he seemed amused. _Bastard._

"I had never guessed you would pick such a fiesty one, Edward," he noted. "I presumed your wife would be a more subdued woman, like Esme. I see so much of Carlisle in you..."

_It__is__a__shame,__Edward.__I__do__not__like__to__waste__such__talent.__If__only__you__would__follow__our__laws...or__join__with__us,__and__be_above_the__law..._

His brothers would kill him for such a remark. I felt like it. But he was right – there was a lot of Carlisle in me. I gritted my teeth and clung to Carlisle's faith in me. I would not hurt Aro...but nor would he hurt Bella.

"Let us go," I demanded, keeping my tone more calm and steady than it had been this whole night.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that," Aro objected.

"Take me and let her go."

That got his attention, for a moment. He found it strange that I would be willing to do that for a human. He had tried to convince me every possible way, and Alice too, but while our family was still standing there was no chance we'd ever join him. Except this one.

"Do you think you might convince your sister to join you in this bargaining?" he inquired.

"This is my deal, Aro. Take it or leave it."

"Oh, but my friend, you are not in the position to make deals with me." He slowly withdrew a cell phone from his pocket, flipped it open, and rested it tauntingly on the palm of his open hand. I heard Bella draw a ragged breath, and saw that her eyes, red and brimming with tears, were focused on it too.

"One button, and I can take someone else from you, Edward. Someone you have known for far longer, _cherished_for far longer than you will ever have this human for. Who will it be, hm? Kate, Irena, Carmen, Eleazer? Carlisle, Esme, one of your brothers or sisters? Or Tanya? Yes, that's right...we picked her up not five minutes ago."

"Leave them alone," I growled. "Take me, and let them go."

_My my, aren't you adamant?_

"Bella has others who will protect her. She does not need to suffer any more for my mistake."

"Others?" Aro slipped the cell phone back inside the folds of his cloak.

At that moment, said 'others' came crashing through the bush towards the house.

_Protect the humans._

_Save Bella._

_They're murderers. _

_They don't belong._

_Protect._

"Felix. Demetri." Aro nodded towards the window, and both disappeared to investigate. A few seconds later, there were scuffles and shouts, and then the metallic screeching of vampires being torn apart. Then smoke was coming through the window, and the meaning behind the silence made Bella cringe and press herself harder against me. She was shaking with fear and rage and pain. I moved my hand from her wrist – where it had caused a terrible bruise when she fought my restraint – to her hip, and tried to be a little more comforting while I focused on Aro.

"You know, there's another law breaker you ought to be focusing on." I was practically spitting the words at him now. "A redhead named Victoria posed as Esme in order reveal information about Bella. She has repeatedly caused us problems. She refuses to acknowledge that this territory has been claimed."

"Your civil disputes do not concern the Volturi."

"Then perhaps you should stay out of our business."

While I wish I could claim it was myself who said those words, or Bella having regained her stubbornness and spirit from the depths of her pain, it was not. It was a voice from the doorway, another party to our dispute.

Jacob Black.

"I'm sorry?" Aro was absolutely flustered. And now that he was alone against us, he was more than a little frightened. "Who are you?" 

"Can't tell you," Jacob informed the startled Aro as he swaggered into the room, shirtless. "But let me just say your buddies out there didn't put up that much of a fight."


	14. Chapter 14

**AN ~ Sorry again guys, I was caught up with Doctor Who ficcing * embarrassed smile * but never fear! The next chapter is here! And it's a killer ending if I do say so myself...**

**Disclaimer: Twilight is not mine, and neither is 'Shooting the Moon'**

**BPOV**

Chapter Fourteen:

Aro took the cell phone back out of his pocket and tossed it across the room to Edward.

"There. Let them all go, Edward. All your friends for me, hey?"

"Coward," Edward and Jacob growled at once. Nevertheless, Edward was on the phone demanding that the Denalis be freed.

"Not the rest?" he queried.

"I'm not an idiot, Aro," Edward growled. "If they are freed, the guard will come here instead. I think you have a few things to explain to your dear old friend. It occurs to me that you do not want an audience for that conversation. Carlisle can get rather angry when people betray his trust and hurt his family. Keep in mind that five minutes ago, Esme was writhing in agony in the dirt. Needless to say, her mate is not in a very pleasant mood."

"C-Carlisle, yes, I must apologise..."

"Good. So it's settled. We'll take you to him."

Edward smiled, looking all too innocent. Jacob grinned; I think he even chuckled a little. Aro laughed uncertainly. I had to admit I rather enjoyed the look of sheer terror that flitted across his face when he realised they weren't kidding - in a twisted sort of way that made me wonder what the hell was wrong with my life.

"Downstairs?" Jacob raised an eyebrow at Edward. The two of them approached Aro, who cringed slightly but retained the dignity to take a step forward instead of one backward. Edward wrapped his hand around Aro's upper arm, and led him towards the doorway and downstairs with Jacob watching warily, following a few steps behind.

I took one last look at my father and stepped into the hall, closing the door behind me and trying to take one continuous inhale so that I would be able to stay standing for a few more seconds. Then I turned and followed the others down the stairs.

.o.o.o.

Jacob transformed, which I put in my 'freak-out-about-later' column, and offered me a ride. Clinging to his back for dear life I was flown through the forest beside two vampires and four huge wolves. It was kind of fun...in a twisted sort of way that made me wonder what the hell was wrong with my life. There is no therapy for this.

Therapy.

Oh my God my Dad just died. My Dad just had his neck broken by vampires who were looking for me. He was sleeping and they broke his neck. They killed him. They stopped his heart. He's dead. He's not going to wake up. He's not going to get better. I don't have a Dad any more. I'm an orphan. I have no parents. I have no friends. I am alone.

And I'm slipping.

Jacob stopped, sending a spray of dead leaves and wet dirt into the air. Immediately, the rest of the runners followed suit – the other wolves and Edward blocking Aro from any path of escape or attacking me. Jacob lowered his shoulder and I let myself slide the rest of the way to the ground, only to collapse thanks to my violently shaking knees.

Jacob snuffled, concern in his eyes, and tried to press his muzzle between my nose and my knees, to uncurl me.

"Bella, are you okay?" Edward asked, hating that he had to face the opposite direction or risk Aro's escape and the impending destruction of his family. He was going to turn around to look after me: something I could not let happen.

"I- I'm fine I just- need a minute," I choked. Jacob whimpered and sat back on his haunches like any household dog, still watching me with great concern.

"No, I don't trust you," Edward growled.

What?

Jacob put his ears back and snarled, then took a step closer to me and lay on his belly so that he was almost wrapped around me.

"Alright. Fine. Bella, are you happy for Jacob to stay with you?"

"Yes," I replied immediately, throwing one arm around his huge canine head. "Edward, stop being stupid. Go save your family."

"The rest of you are coming with me," Edward demanded – I was guessing, of the other wolves. They growled and snarled at him, hackles raised, until Jacob let out one great, commanding bark. Still bristling, the other wolves followed Edward further into the forest.

Once we were alone, Jacob phased back, and enveloped me in his arms. His skin was feverishly hot but I didn't mind – I was chilled to the core. I couldn't move.

"Are you okay?"

I didn't answer. It was dark, and I was deep in the forest, miles from home where my father's corpse was still lying. I was scared, and being comforted by a werewolf. I was in love with a vampire, and that was the reason my family – and possibly soon his family too – were dead. What do I do know? Can I be with Edward, knowing the cost of it? Knowing the violence of their world? But then...can I really turn my back on him? After all we've been through? All our families have given up to keep us together?

"Right. Stupid question I guess. Look, Bella, I really don't know what I'm doing here..."

I cut him off with a sob, then I couldn't stop. Tears came in droves. My chest ached with them, so much that I could hardly breathe. Jacob continued to hug me, and I hugged him back twice as hard, and I began to wonder if he was scared: we were after all incredibly exposed, and with my arms around him he would severely injure if not kill me if he phased quickly. If he was afraid, he offered no sign of it. He only hugged me, and then he began to sing softly in my ear.

"All of the astronauts, champagne in plastic cups, waiting for the big hero to show..."

I smiled gently. It was an easy rhythm, a gentle song. I liked it. It was comforting, and Jacob had a nice voice. I cried along to it until I ran out of tears, and then I began to drift off to sleep to it, humming the chorus with much worse intonation and general musical skill than Jacob.

"Shootin' the-"

Suddenly, I realised I was the only one singing.

Jacob cleared his throat.

"So you, ah, you still thinkin' about this vampire thing?"

"Now? _Now_ you ask about that?" I could figure out whether I wanted to yell, pound on him, or just start crying again. How could he possibly be asking about that at a time like this? Was his deal with the Cullens really that important?

"I know it's not the best time, I'm sorry, I'm an idiot...but I don't take back my question."

I whacked him. It wasn't satisfying, so I settled for yelling instead. I pulled myself out of his arms and stood up.

"Yes, I'm thinking about it! Really, seriously thinking!" My voice was an octave or so higher than usual, but I wasn't in the mood to care. Jacob looked up at me, startled.

"Ok, I get it, you're not ready to talk about it."

"Not ready?" I repeated incredulously. "_Not ready?_ Jacob for God's sake grow some tact! My dad just _died!"_

Aaaaand here come the water works. More than anything else, though, I was embarrassed this time. And then I felt bad for being embarrassed. I should be crying over Charlie, not over how stupid a few tears made me look in the middle of my bout of rage.

"Hey, Bella, I'm sorry. I was being totally tactless, you're right. But please be quiet. Please." Jacob ushered me into his arms with only the slightest sense of urgency. "All of us on the rez are going to throw a little thing for him. A funeral I guess. Just, you know, a campfire and stuff. A few friends. Maybe a toast. D'you wanna come?"

I sniffed, and tried to wipe away my tears with my sleeve.

"Yeah, Jake, that would be nice," I choked. "That's a better question, for the record."

"I'll keep that in mind," he replied with a gentle but amused smile. "Now where were we? I forgot."

"How about you start from the top?"

Not my voice. I froze.

A giggle. A cruel, sadistic, high-pitched, bubblegum giggle.

Jacob and I leapt apart like uncooperative magnets with matching poles, and I heard his shorts tear as the great russet wolf burst out of his skin.

Victoria appeared at the other end of the clearing, remaining in a feline sort of crouch as she studied – curious more than afraid – the enormous, snarling canine who stood guard over me.

"Isabella," she purred, her head twitching in the other direction and her body snaking after it, her eyes now locked on me. "I had thought I might miss my chance to find you, but Carlisle and Aro seem to be taking their sweet time so...here we are. And might I say, your little pet is _adorable!"_

She gave another squeaky laugh, one which almost made me want to burst my own eardrums before she could manage it, but suddenly her airy facade disappeared. She was one hundred percent predator, every pore in her body was screaming for revenge. For my blood.

She pounced.

I screamed.

Jacob got in the way.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN ~ here it is! I think this gap was considerably shorter than the last – yay! But school's coming back on soon, so don't get used to it :( Working on an update for Once Twice Three Times, so hopefully that will be up in the next few days. Thanks for your patience guys!**

**ED POV**

Chapter Fifteen

As we sprinted for the clearing, all attention there was on Carlisle. I could see a thousand versions of his face. His whole body was frozen, tensed, every muscle prepped for immediate use at full capacity. His mouth was tight; his eyes a dark, rich gold which seemed to burn and boil like magma, seething below the earth's surface. His own thoughts matched this; a turbid maelstrom of English, of Latin, of Italian, of memories, of prayers. I could scarcely pick out a word above the uncharacteristic anarchy. It worried me, because when a solidly good man becomes unpredictable...that sentence ends itself.

The final tree-line barrier disappeared and the six of us halted immediately. Hisses went around at the sight of the wolves, and the wolves curled their noses at the stench of so many vampires. They refused to back up, denying any weakness, and once it was clear they were staying, the question dropped to the back of everyone's mind: this was clearly not the time. Almost as if the wolves were not there, the attention of the clearing returned to the presence of myself and Aro, and what Carlisle was going to do about it.

"Take a deep breath, my friend," Aro said, only the slightest waver of fear in his tone now that he was closer to his own followers. They had my family surrounded, except Carlisle who was standing ahead, though it looked like there were a number of the elite guard ready to take him down should Aro give the word. Unfortunately for Aro, I was still only a few steps away from him, and I had with me four enormous canines anxiously awaiting the tearing of crystalline vampire flesh.

"Friend?" Carlisle repeated, his tone just as sugar-sweet as his opponent's. "I thought you didn't know the meaning of the word. How naïve of me."

_Anger._

_Peace._

_Violence._

_Peace._

_Hatred._

_Peace._

At least it seemed a ship had appeared on Carlisle's ocean.

"Yes, well, I had a good man to teach me, didn't I?" Aro smiled slightly. Carlisle's eyes narrowed, suspicious, trying to pinpoint the game Aro was playing.

I glanced behind him. Everyone was staring at Carlisle except Esme, who had her eyes closed as if to concentrate, and Alice, who was apparently staring into nothing. A vision flashed through her head: Victoria, leaping through the trees, grinning like a fox.

It struck me that Bella was not safe yet. She only had Jacob. I forced down my fear: the chances of Victoria finding Bella were very slim after all, and I could hear the rest of the wolf pack in the trees. For all they hated us, they would not let Bella be harmed.

_Who are the black-cloaked ones? _The largest wolf, the black one, had a deep mind-voice. His name was Sam, and he was apparently the leader. _They are not the same as you?_

I couldn't answer him, so I shook my head minutely and took a step forward, letting him know that we did not have the opportunity to converse.

"Edward, stay out of this," Carlisle warned, striding forward as if to ensure he was closer to Aro than I was. Four of the elite guard shadowed him, but Aro raised a hand to stop them.

"He will not harm me," he assured them.

"I wouldn't be certain of that," Carlisle growled. His voice was so soft I could barely hear him, but shock clicked in the minds of everyone who knew him. Esme's eyes flew open, and she took a step forward, already reaching for Carlisle. Before Rose or Jasper could pull her back in line, two of the guard swept her up and carried her off to the side.

_Fear._

_Anxiety. _

_Anticipation._

_Agony._

Like an adrenalin-pumped heart, Carlisle's thoughts started racing again, plunging towards panic. Esme, though flustered and terrified at first, flicked her hair back over her shoulder and stood tall. She locked her eyes on Carlisle's, strong and independent, and it was as if the sun had broken through the clouds for him.

_Peace._

_Trust._

_Forgiveness._

_Mercy._

Stale air rushed out of my lungs. Carlisle finally had his mind back.

Aro wasn't sure how to react to this. His surge of confidence at having Esme as leverage was thrown off by the confidence she and Carlisle seemed to share. He was beginning to think that, perhaps, his best shot had backfired. Nevertheless, he had not yet run out of words.

"Come now, Carlisle, you are usually such a reasonable man. I'm afraid I must apologise for the actions of young Jane earlier today, but that's all in the past now isn't it?"

"Not far enough for my liking," Carlisle qualified, "but apparently Esme bears you no resentment, so I shall ignore the actions of 'young Jane'...though I'm sure she's old enough to have been taught better."

"That she is," Aro conceded. "But you know us. Very busy. Ruling the world and all that jazz. Speaking of which, I might take this opportunity to remind you that you – standing here under guard – are no martyrs. You are, one might say, under arrest. No matter what has transpired since our arrival here – the death of at least two guardsmen notwithstanding – the Volturi ventured to Forks today to try a family of criminals. So, my dear Cullens, how do you plead?"

"Does it matter?" Carlisle retaliated, still calm. Knots in my chest continued to unravel, and I could see and feel my family's anxiety gradually lessening as it became apparent Carlisle had recovered himself.

"No, I suppose not," Aro shrugged. "But you are_ Americans,_ after all."

With no more sound than a hummingbird, Alice flitted to Carlisle's side. She nudged him and, slightly baffled but trusting, he stepped aside.

"She will be one of us," Alice testified. "Soon. I have seen it. No secrets have spread beyond ourselves."

Aro gestured to the wolves behind me.

"I get the impression that these are your enemies, and yet, they have had the opportunity today to learn a lot about all of us. I'm afraid your point has been rendered false, dear Alice."

"The disagreement we have with the wolves is a domestic dispute," Carlisle clarified. "It is not of your jurisdiction and it should not be taken into account."

"Nonetheless, another species knows of us. One who would have your family destroyed. I cannot allow this web of information to exist, and I cannot allow the creators of that web to go free. I truly am sorry, Carlisle, but you know the law. When you invited Isabella Swan into your home, you knew what you were stepping into. You took a grand risk for your son, and you lost. It's over."

Carlisle looked as though he was contemplating hanging his head. A silence fell over the clearing so heavy I could feel it bearing down on my own body, as if even the air wanted us to surrender. Aro smiled, glad everything was going his way. The wolves growled and grumbled, but they wouldn't get involved in our conflict – risking injury or even death for vampires? Never. Not unless, for some reason, they had to.

"Bella."

The word slipped from Alice's lips as if she were on her death bed.

"What?" I repeated.

"Bella. She's gone. Victoria was there-"

_Bella! Jacob! The vampire with fire for hair!_

_Run, find them, protect..._

The wolf pack was immediately mobile, their formerly hidden agents plunging through the trees to find Bella and Jacob. Alice's knees buckled, and Jasper shot out of ranks to catch her. The guard looked to Aro for instruction but he was so bewildered by the sudden turn of events that he gave them no orders.

"Who is this 'Victoria'?" he demanded instead.

"A nomad, Master," Jane replied. "She was the informant, posing as Esme Cullen. Apparently she has been seeking to destroy the human girl for several months, initially with the assistance of twoo other nomads. The Cullens _claim _this was the reason they revealed information to the girl."

"We were only trying to protect her," Jasper testified. "And we were protecting our territory from an aggressive and invasive nomad. She refused to move on. She has been stealing from our lands."

"But she is not diminishing your food source. Your point is moot."

"But Bella is not spreading the word that vampires exist. She did not even inform the wolves behind us. They have known about our kind since their birth. They are only what they are because of us; their existence is tied to ours. Your point is moot."

"Oh, I like this one, Carlisle. You should let him speak more often."

_Tooth, claw, grab, tear._

_Blood, sand, heat._

The yelps and snarls were audible from here. I was getting restless. Aro, Jasper and Carlisle's banter seemed worthless. Bella was in danger. I could not stay here much longer, but leaving could provoke Aro to abandon his thoughts of leniency and trigger an attack. Things had been extremely volatile today.

Suddenly, as if a whip crack had quietened the corral, there was nothing but birdsong and bickering. I turned and lunged for the fringe of the forest, but stopped myself after only a few strides. A russet-brown wolf was trotting casually towards me, tongue lolling, limp human form draped over his shoulders. He huffed.

_Edward, she's alive. Calm down._

Jacob Black was reprimanding me? 


	16. Chapter 16

**AN ~ I know it's been way too long AGAIN! I'm in my last year of school now so things are reaaaaally intense! Now I'm on holiday so I'll try to update several fics, but my exams are in two weeks so I'll have to cram some study in there too :(**

**Disclaimer: characters not mine. Plot by this point pretty much is.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoy this**

ED POV

Chapter Sixteen:

"I take it that this 'Victoria' has been vanquished by your...excuse me...friends?" Aro estimated, his nose crinkling in disgust as the wolves once again began to settle around us.

_No._

_Not friends._

_Never._

_For Bella._

"Allies," I amended. "We have an agreement."

"One which revolves around the human girl, am I correct?"

_Yes, _Jasper insisted: tactical advice.

"Yes. So you might want to reconsider what to do with Bella, because before you touch a hair on her head, you'll have to kill every one of us first, and then every one of them. Are you up to that?"

Beside me, Jacob gave his best menacing smile; revealing his long, sharp, shiny teeth and strong vampire-tearing jaw at their most intimidating angle. It send a toxic cloud of his breath in my direction, but to see the slightest twitch in Aro's face was well worth the moment's suffocation.

"And every one of us, too." Another voice joined the conversation; one which I identified as Tanya without having to look. The wolves snarled at them, hackles bristling, until Carlisle gestured for them to come forward as friends. Begrudgingly respectful, the wolves allowed the Denalis to join our ranks, each staring one of them down, checking the colour of their eyes.

_Only the golden ones are allowed, _Sam lectured. _They are friends of the Cullens and they do not harm humans. We will allow them._

"Thank you," Carlisle said quietly, as if responding to Sam's instruction, though he did not hear it.

"If you are quite finished," Aro put in. "I am _trying _to conduct official business!"

_Oh, please._

_Don't be so childish._

My family held their tongues. Bella did not.

"What's...going on?"

.o.o.o.

BPOV

My head was spinning as countless cool, gentle hands lifted me from Jacob's warm back and lay me on the ground. None of them had said anything, but I could feel them fretting as if it made the air tremble, so I forced myself to open my eyes to the concerned faces of Alice, Carlisle, and Edward.

"Are you okay?" Edward breathed, reaching out a hand to stop me as I tried to sit up. I did not relent, so instead he braced me in a sitting position as I tried to get my bearings. Carlisle, confident I was okay, gestured to the rest of the family to resume their former positions which, by the looks of things, was an army formation of sorts, facing a crowd of black cloaks. Esme, I realised, stood between two of them, her arms trapped by their vice-like grips, but as my jaw dropped a little in horror, her fairytale lips curved into the slightest of smiles to let me know she was ok.

"Isabella..."

Aro stepped forward, offering a hand as if to help me up, though he was still twenty good yards away. A hiss ran through the Cullen family as if they were one entity. Edward's hands tensed where they held my back.

"_Bastard," _ I growled with all the strength I could.

Aro smiled gently. I gritted my teeth and swung to my feet, powered by an intense desire to punch him. So I'd break my hand. So he'd tear my arm off and probably kill me before my fingers touched his flesh – if you could call that flesh. I didn't care.

"No! Bella!"

Horror from the Cullens. I swung around to reassure them, probably with a snarky comment in my current mood, but they weren't looking at me.

"What?" I asked, as their faces dropped from horrified to simply baffled. I swung back to face Aro, fist still ready to punch, and found his expression slightly perplexed too.

"It seems you have evaded young Jane's talent," Aro explained. "It is a rare thing..."

His next words were blotted out with a surge of nausea that made me want to double over. The trees and the undergrowth blurred for a moment into a brown-green-grey impressionist painting. I forced myself to stand tall, not to show a hint of weakness - a plan my survival instincts were all for, me being in a clearing full of predators – and the trees returned just as Aro grabbed my hand.

I jumped and pulled back from his cold touch, and to my further surprise he did not resist at all.

"Strange." He frowned over my head. "Carlisle, what is this one? She is resistant to myself as well. I'm curious."

The nausea swept over me again, this time accompanied by stabbing pains across my neck and belly, and what felt like a flash of lightning inside my own skull. I must have made some sound this time, because the Cullens began calling for me to return. I staggered back towards them, but I couldn't see straight. It was like I had stared at a bright light for too long, and now the world was blotchy and dizzying.

"Aro, _please!" _Esme was all but screaming. "Let me help her! Please!"

A moment later, her arms were around me, guiding me towards the others. Doubled over, with her arms keeping me that way, I shut my eyes and trusted, stepping only as she stepped, and realised I was trembling violently. I wanted to be sick. I really did.

"It's okay, Bella," Esme murmured. "Take a deep breath."

I tried to obey, but suddenly it felt as if my lungs were on fire. I couldn't hold it in this time: I cried out. Another pair of arms appeared to take me from Esme: Edward, who cried out in anguish to his father.

_Don't pass out. Do not pass out._

Hot hands on me now.

"Back off," Edward snarled.

"No!" Jacob retorted.

"Both of you!" Carlisle and Esme ordered at once. Edward lay me on the ground, which unlike the previous times I had passed out (and by this point I had racked up quite a list), was harder than stone. It felt like my head was being pressed against a diamond; like the very bones of my skull would start to crack if I didn't sit up _right now._

"Are you _sure _she wasn't bitten?" Carlisle demanded, with an edge of urgency but still refraining from panic.

"Uh, yeah, I mean, she told me, but-"

"And you _listened _to her?" Rosalie scoffed. "Don't you know _anything _about her, you stupid mutt! She was being stoic!"

_Don't pass out. Do not pass out. _I clenched my teeth so tightly together I could no longer feel my mouth. I forced my eyes open, but all I could see were red and yellow blotches.

"But she was walking and talking two minutes ago! If she had been, you know, then wouldn't she be...I mean, it's impossible!"

"I got myself through a London suburb and buried myself in a pile of potatoes," Carlisle retorted gently. "It most certainly is possible."

"But," I managed. I felt them turn to look at me. Falling suddenly, I reached upwards. "But I wasn't finished yet."

And then the fire started.


	17. Chapter 17

**AN ~ Hi guys! Long time no write :) Sorry but it's my last year of school – hard work! Anyway, just got the opportunity to finish off & brush up this chap and I thought it was about time I posted something so here you go! **

ED POV

Chapter Seventeen:

"Can't we stop it?" Rose fell to her knees at Bella's side, taking her outstretched hand and squeezing it gently – _we're still here. _With her free hand, Rose shunted Bella's jacket out of the way, revealing the patch of venom that had soaked into her shirt. Under that was a vicious wound of raw skin and gashes, though it only bled a little.

Jacob blanched, and his head flickered back to the moment: throwing Victoria away, tearing her apart, listening to Bella's insistences. He scolded himself for not having noticed.

"Carlisle!" Rose turned to yell at him, desperation breaking her voice. "There has to be a way. We have to stop it! We have to-!"

"I'm sorry." Carlisle's eyes flickered over mine before meeting Rose's. His gaze – collected in the midst of her panic - seemed to put her in a trance, and so she stood up and backed away, eerily silently, as though he had compelled her by some mystical force.

"Carlisle," Esme murmured, distressed, resisting the urge to latch herself to his arm. He drew her close to him as if to protect her from the carnage, but neither could take their eyes off Bella, who groaned and tried to resist the compulsion to scream and convulse.

"No," Jacob mouthed, horror stealing his voice. Through his head flashed visceral images, interspersed with memories of Bella. He, backed away, forcing himself not to phase, but he could not tear his eyes off Bella. Could not fathom what was about to happen to his beloved. I could sympathise.

I wanted to reach out and touch her, to sooth the flames coursing through her veins as she contorted and, at long last, screamed through gritted teeth. But I could not. My hands refused to move. Every facet of my body was disconnected from my mind, and that again from my surroundings. It was so horribly surreal. I was living my nightmare. I could not fight it. I could not save her this time.

A gutwrenching howl tore from the wolf pack as a whole, mourning the loss of their friend Bella. Yet they could not attack. They would not attack her, their friend, until they were sure she was a threat. But there was more: they had never witnessed the agony of the change before. They could see perfectly the pain she was in; the pain all of us had been in throughout our transformations. It seemed to give them a new level of respect for us, and though they resisted any overt sympathetic thought, they could also see the pain all of us were in now, in this moment, watching Bella's transformation into one of us.

Carlisle and Jasper watched with the eyes of those accustomed to, but not unaffected by, such carnage. Esme was frozen in Carlisle's arms: like me, she could not step forward to help Bella though every fibre of her being was burning in its own way at letting her suffer. Alice had backed away, and with the Denalis was watching the Volturi to make sure they didn't take advantage of the situation. Rose looked much sadder than the others, her fight having left her, her rage having joined a conglomeration of pity and age-old bitterness and frustration and grief. Emmett wore an uncharacteristically sombre expression as he gently took her hand.

_Edward, _Rose called my attention._ I'm sorry I've treated her so horribly. Please forgive me. I know she already has. She's just like that. I'm so jealous and petty. I'm sorry._

I wanted to tell her that it was okay, that I understood and of course I had forgiven her; she was my sister and I knew where she was coming from in her opposition to us. That it was my fault - I had known it had been dangerous, but I just could not stay away. But for all the want in the world, I could only make a strangled sound and try to reach for Bella.

"_EDWARD!" _she screeched. Her voice pulled me forward, and at last I touched her hand.

"Bella," I breathed. Suddenly the words weren't coming fast enough. "Bella, I love you. I'm so sorry, I should have-"

"_EDWARD!"_

Bella, clenching my hand as tightly as her human muscles could manage, fell totally silent and still when I squeezed gently back. At this seemingly tranquil moment, Jacob couldn't bear the sight of her any more. He exploded into his wolf form, throwing his head and yowling in agony, twisting and writhing in a way human bodies simply could not manage.

_Bella! Bella! _He screamed back at her as once again, she began to fidget and contort. He yelped and moaned for a moment more, and then took off into the undergrowth, everything flashing brown and green and an angry red as he focused on nothing but his own pain, and her pain, and how it was our fault.

_Jake? _The wolves cast their thoughts after him. They could see his point of view – could see how their loss of Bella was our fault. Could it be considered breaking the treaty? Not exactly, but with some manipulation...

Carlisle, sensing dissent in the wolves' ranks, turned to face them and shoved Esme behind him. Sam's muzzle was already in his face, baring his teeth and breathing heavily on purpose to make Carlisle uncomfortable.

"Please, let us be," Carlisle said in a low, calm voice. "Bella is family to us. Perhaps you cannot think how we have such connections, but it is true."

Here, he ran out of air. He very diplomatically kept his face straight, not daring to draw in air at the risk of doubling over with the violent urge to gag that their breath, their very presence, encouraged.

Sam's face turned into the equivalent of a scowl as he considered Carlisle's proposal. The other wolves twitched in anxiety – some eager for the kill, and some awaiting the order to let us go – as their leader pondered.

_Brave, _was Sam's first commendation, looking down his nose at the unassuming leader of our coven, who looked back confidently at a creature who towered above him, and whose teeth were mere inches from both his flesh and that of his mate. Both Carlisle and Esme held their ground solidly; they showed no signs of preparation to fight – at this proximity, it would do neither of them any good. Anyhow, it demonstrated to Sam that we did not want a fight with them. He took this into consideration.

Next, Sam looked over to where Alice and the Denalis and now Jasper held up our front against the Volturi, who seemed to be watching the unfolding events with amusement, if a little confusion, and observing all they could about our behaviour.

_The red-eyed ones are aggressive,_ Sam evaluated. _They have tricked the golden ones, have hurt them. They would take the mind-reader and the psychic for power, but the golden ones demonstrate loyalty. The red-eyed ones show no remorse for Bella Swan._

This last comment seemed to make up their minds. One by one, the great wolves sat on their haunches, making it clear that they had no intention to fight us. Sam was the last of them, locking his eyes determinedly on Carlisle's as he planted himself in the dirt, lowering his head to the same level as Carlisle's, deferring to his authority.

Carlisle nodded his appreciation, and then turned around and sucked in a great breath. It still made him cringe, but he handled it better than most.

"Thank you," Esme murmured to Sam. He huffed at her, a grudging _you're welcome, _and she smiled a little before joining Carlisle, facing the Volturi once more.

"Edward-" I immediately looked down, to the sound. Bella strained for breath, her chest heaving in between constricting groans. "Help...help me."

.o.o.o.

BPOV

_Mum. Jacob. Dad._

_Fire. Red. White._

_Scream. Bite. Blood._

_Death._

_Pain. Darkness._

_Edward._

"Edward-" I force my lips to move, forced the words out. _It burns! Help me! _"Help...help me..."

I couldn't tell I'd succeeded until Edward wrapped his arms around me, hugging me against his chest and finally manage to break through the burn – if only for a moment. I don't think he ever dropped his arms, but the fire simply overwhelmed any physical relief his presence offered. As it was, I could barely focus my thoughts enough to listen to Edward when – minutes, hours, days later? - he tried to reach me through my pain.

"Bella, love," he murmured gently, like a river flowing through the blaze. I bit down another scream and squeezed his hand to let him know I could hear.

"We're going home, Bella. Everything's going to be okay, I promise. I'm so sorry..."

Though I tried to hold onto his words, the pain and fire, fear and frustration, doubt and worry muted his words. I could no longer feel if I was holding his hand, if he was carrying me or I was still on the ground, or indeed when we reached the bed: for a long time, an endless time, there was only fire. No feeling, no thought, only burning.

Burning.

_Burning._

Until suddenly, there was a change.

I couldn't tell exactly what it was, except that I realised I was on a bed; my head on a pillow, my limbs in soft sheets. Why they were not burning around me, I don't know, but I relished their softness. I clung to that: to an inviting feeling, a relief, and prayed it was reality. Maybe if I closed my eyes and wished upon a star, the cloud-like sheets would protect me from the fire, which was mercifully beginning to fade at last.

A horribly loud tearing sound jolted me away from the faint softness: it was as though someone was tearing the sheets around me. And then I realised – I was.

"Hello?" I called into the darkness. Though I expected my voice to be raspy from all the screaming and groaning and biting my tongue, it was clear, and as smooth as – well, I don't know. Molten gold?

As the subsiding flames relinquished my limbs, I stopped shredding the sheets. My body felt alien, now that it was not on fire. I took my time flexing my fingers, toes, legs, arms, neck. I took a deep breath and, with the cold, humid air of Forks, washed the last of the hot coals from around my heart. Then I lay still, letting myself cool like a cake on the windowsill, and slowly, carefully opened my eyes.


	18. Chapter 18

**AN ~ Hello again guys! Been a while, I know, but I really wanted to think of a decent way to handle this since Bella isn't as prepared etc. for this change as she was in BD. I hope it worked out – enjoy :)**

**Oh, and for those of you who read Doctor Who fics, I've posted a new oneshot – 'Big Bang II' - in my River Song collection 'The Woman Who Didn't Kill the Doctor.' A prequel to 'Time of Angels' (5x04) will be posted in the next few days, too.**

**Ok enough pushing of my products – on with the new Bella Swan! BPOV btw.**

Chapter Eighteen:

The light was off and it was dark outside, leaving the room a purplish colour though I could see everything in it perfectly clearly. I sat up, slowly, half expecting pain – but there was none, and I was not surprised. I glanced around: a shelf of records, a haphazard heap of diaries in the corner, a gramophone...I was in Edward's room.

I looked down, at where my hands rested amongst fragments of white sheet, and feathers. My fingers seemed longer, daintier than they had before. My skin was smooth and white, and as I watched, moonlight broke through the window and gave it that pearlescent, watery shimmer.

I looked up again, to find the room bathed in silver light. The moon must have been behind a cloud before, but now it lit up the dust motes like the brightest sunlight, and created cavernous shadows in the undulating sheets and between the furniture.

I slipped from between the sheets and padded across the soft carpet – until it tickled my feet, and I danced and jumped the rest of the way to the window, where I stood on smooth if clammy floorboards and looked out at the glorious night sky.

At first glance, it was blinding. I hissed, baring my teeth at the bright light and shying away from the window. Ducking below the sill, as if to hide from the moon, I took a deep breath and straightened again. I braved another look at the sky. The bright silver-white sheet evolved as I watched; dark blue and black patches appearing between the spots, and some of those spots taking on a green or red tint. Stars, I realised as they took shape – millions more stars than I had ever seen before.

The door creaked, and I whipped around, lowering myself into a crouch without thinking about it. Edward was standing just inside his own doorway, hands held out to guarantee no threat, vulnerable points comfortably exposed to me.

"Good evening, love," he greeted gently. "How are you?"

I realised how beastly I must have looked, and gradually regained control of my body parts and tried to act more human.

"I'm a vampire."

I paused, absorbing the sound of my own voice. It was as though another person was speaking my thoughts – Esme, maybe, or Rosalie. It was just so smooth, like a bubbling brook or the wing of the Canadian geese I used to watch fly south with Jake.

Suddenly, I remembered. I was inches away from Edward in a matter of steps, my fingers digging into his forearms.

"What happened? Where's Jake?" I demanded, my chest heaving in buckets of moist oxygen which triggered thoughts of hospitals and mountaintops. Downstairs, I could hear whispering and laughing. I could hear a rumble outside that I suspected was traffic, far off. I could see every tiny nuance, every shadow, every _fibre _of Edward's dusky purple-grey t-shirt. This was insane. I was glad I no longer had the capability to pass out from this sensory overload – although, I'd been doing it so much lately I wouldn't be surprised if that was my special talent.

"Hey!" I remembered. "You can read my mind now, can't you?"

I looked up at Edward's face. His brow was a little creased, his lips pursed, his whole face and neck and shoulders straining as if he really wanted to shout something.

"Bella," he muttered through gritted teeth. "Your hands."

I looked down. My fingers were fraying his clothing, their grip was so tight, and now that I was thinking about it, I could feel his flesh giving to my grasp. _ I was hurting him._

"Oh!"

I jumped back, stumbling all the way back to the bed, and covered my mouth with my careless hands. Edward's expression instantly relaxed, and he quickly flexed each wrist to demonstrate that both his arms were fully operational.

"No harm done," he informed me cheerfully. "You're doing better than most."

Silence fell between us. Downstairs, they were hushing each other, and soon silence fell there too. Though I could hear the forest and the distant sounds of town life, it felt like a bubble of quiet had engulfed us all.

"_Kiss!" _

Emmett, of course. Downstairs, he hooted. Edward laughed, and so did I, and I stepped forward and took his hand again. He squeezed my fingers gently, inviting me to try: I all but glared at our fingers as I slowly, carefully, mimicked the action. He winced, and my eyes flew to his face.

"Better," he told me with a smile. I nodded, and decided to leave my other displays of affection – kissing, for example – until I could manage it without crushing him. Or, at the very least, to try to abstain until I simply couldn't manage it any more.

"_Booooo!" _

It was Alice this time. She sounded cross with us: I could just picture her pouting, crossing her arms and slouching into the couch.

"_Oh, hush, Alice," _Esme scolded. And then, calling up to us, she added - "_Come down and introduce us, will you, Bella?" _

Edward looked from me to the doorway – 'are you ready?'. I nodded, and he led my first step forward. I smiled as I left his room and we slowly made our way towards the staircase; towards my new family. As we walked, I chanted to myself, _don't stack the stairs. _Edward shifted my grip on his hand, so that my arm was through his as if we were walking on to the dance floor...or down the aisle.

"I'll never let you fall," he assured me, just as we reached the top of the stairs. There was more murmuring, and the lights down below switched on, bathing Edward and I in a warm orange glow. I watched my feet as I stepped onto the first step, and realised only now that I was wearing a most exquisite dress – dark blue and loose hanging below the bust, dropping all the way to the floor on one side, with a slit up to my thigh on the other.

"Alice," I sighed. At least I was in bare feet. I wouldn't have made it this far down the staircase otherwise.

"I have the perfect heels to match!" she replied from out of sight, undeterred.

I faked a grimace at Edward. He smiled back, faking an apology, and together we stepped onto the ground floor of the Cullen house. All of a sudden, there were arms around me, and blonde curls in my face that smelt of the flowers from Phoenix – frangipanis and hibiscus and a million other scents.

"Rose?" 

I staggered back from the cloying scent, and she let me go.

"You look beautiful," she confessed. "And I promise I won't fight you any more. You're one of us now, Bella, and I might have wanted to change that up until you were bitten, but it's too late now and...I guess I'm glad."

She smiled kindly, the steel melting from her eyes, and opened her arms to let me hug her. Unfortunately for her, Alice sprung in the way.

"BELLA!" she cheered. "I KNEW IT!" She bounced back a few inches and pointed past herself and Rose into the living room. "Now, go hug Esme."

I poked my head into the living room to find the two Cullen parents sitting casually on the couch. Esme spotted me first, and leapt to her feet. She smoothed her rich, purple, knee-length dress and I watched the wear her nervous hands made along the fabric as she greeted me with a pleasant but wavering voice.

"You look wonderful," she assured me. "You're simply radiant, Bella. I hope you find a very comfortable home here with us."

At this, Carlisle stood, and slipped his hand into hers.

"It's wonderful to see you," he said, smiling gently. His eyes moved from my face to Edward's, and I saw them glistening with a joy I could only recognise as a father's unique emotion seeing happiness in his child. I thought of Charlie, and suddenly wanted to cry.

.o.o.o.

Edward POV:

Carlisle's gaze broke from mine, concern clouding his glowing expression as, between us, Bella collapsed to her knees, howling.

_What's happening?_

The thoughts of my family bubbled with concern. Carlisle's was loudest – the closest and calmest. Bella's was silent.

"_Daaaaaaaaad!" _she cried, somewhere between a shriek and a moan. "EDWARD!"

She leapt up, and flung herself at me, with such a strength that I was thrown back through the door into the foyer, at the base of the staircase. Bella continued to shriek, deafeningly loud, and cling to me, almost wrapped around my neck, and tear at my clothes. I wrapped my arms around her and tried to ease her back to her feet.

"Jasper-" I murmured. He was already on it, reining in Bella's wild newborn emotion so that she allowed my hands to guide her back to the floor.

"Ja-Jasper...leave me alone..." she demanded. Her fingers dug into my shoulder bones, and she buried her face so deep into my chest that it felt like she might crack me in half any minute.

"Bella," Carlisle beckoned, crouching as he approached her. "Bella, come here. I understand how you feel right now. This is perfectly normal. Let go of Edward. We can talk about this."

I clenched my teeth. The air had long been forced from my lungs, and now my bones were breaking. If Bella didn't get herself under control soon, she'd crack me – and quite possibly trigger a highly destructive outburst. Over her shoulder, I could see Carlisle beginning to shake, and a small furrow appear in his brow. In his mind, he chanted to himself, and visualised Bella's likely reactions to his approach. Most of them weren't good.

"Isabella, please," his voice became more grave. Alice bit her lip. Beside her, Jasper closed his eyes and a wave of calm fell over the room. I felt Bella's arms loosen around my torso, and took a deep breath as the danger passed. Bella stepped back, calculated, towards the door – one, two, three paces. Her red eyes glanced over Carlisle, Esme, Rose, Emmett, Jasper, and Alice as they hesitantly surrounded us, sticking to the very edges of the foyer. They locked on my face, and I had never missed her gentle chocolate eyes as much as in that moment.

In a low voice, one that was not quite her own, she lowered into a crouch, and I watched her face crease into a vicious snarl.

_She's going to fly, _Alice warned. But Bella could see us all get ready to attack, and it was spooking her.

"No, no, stay back," I warned.

"_You _stay back," Bella snapped. "I said _leave me alone!"_

She roared, and disappeared, and before the door cluttered to the ground, all of us were after her.


	19. Chapter 19

**AN ~ I know, it's been forEVER! (2 months, 9 days...oops!) but I now have ONE WEEK OF SCHOOL LEFT EVER! There is absolutely no way to describe how I am feeling right now. Not at all like Bella is currently, but hey. I figured I should give you guys a chapter now that I can actually think clearly enough to sustain a plot line in this stress-tired-sick-frazzled brain of mine. So enjoy!**

Previously: EPOV

"_Bella," Carlisle beckoned, crouching as he approached her. "Bella, come here. I understand how you feel right now. This is perfectly normal. Let go of Edward. We can talk about this."_

_She's going to fly, Alice warned. But Bella could see us all get ready to attack, and it was spooking her._

"_No, no, stay back," I warned._

"_You stay back," Bella snapped. "I said leave me alone!"_

_She roared, and disappeared, and before the door cluttered to the ground, all of us were after her._

Chapter Nineteen:

As we ran, Carlisle called the Blacks and soon enough, half the wolf pack was out looking for Bella and the other half locking down the reserve and setting up protection details in town. I hoped we would find her before they did: I was unsure how they would treat her – still their Bella, or a monster like one of us? I was also worried about how she would treat them, though less for their sakes than for the fact that if she could get past them, she could attack any number of people before we could restrain her. We were closer to a town than we had ever been with a newborn, and especially with the beyond-precarious situation with the wolves, we did not need Bella to so much as sniff a human on the wrong wind. And that was without the outrageously emotional build-up to her transformation, and the drastic mood swings that had ensued.

_Edward, can you find her? _Jasper asked, addressing me to draw my attention above the babble of thoughts.

"Nope. I still can't read her."

If Jasper heard the second part, he gave it no thought; instead, he sped up and branched off, almost to the edge of me hearing range. I tried not to think about it either, but it kept turning over in my head – why can't I read her? It could be her special talent, but then, why had it existed in her human life too?

"Edward!" Alice exclaimed, halting suddenly. The family froze, and almost instantly an alarm sounded in the town.

"Oh,_ hell_ no," Emmett cursed.

Carlisle flipped open his cell again immediately, and called the hospital.

.o.o.o.

BPOV

As soon as I smelt it, I knew I had made a serious mistake running this way. All my senses at once started screaming for it, my body curving and convulsing with the desire to taste it and my mind now incapable of stopping my feet. I felt strangely detached – burning with need and yet, almost serenely unaffected by the heat of the desire. Instead, there was terror; ice-cold terror as I tried to force my feet in the other direction and they would not go. As if in a dream, I was stranded in my own body as Animal Bella sought the nearest source of that impossibly brilliant red liquid, pulsing through the necks of 3, 175 humans she was running towards.

_No._

I forced control of myself for an instant, and gritted my teeth. _No human blood will pass these lips._

_But I want it. I need it. I'm so close now..._

The buildings were rapidly approaching. I need only blink and I'd be in the middle of it all. I could reach the hospital in less than a minute...and think of all that blood...

_No._

_Yes!  
_

I leapt onto a rooftop, and crossed it so quickly I could scarcely feel the crunch of the tiles underneath my feet as I pushed off, sending shards shattering to the earth as I flew towards the next building. There were one or two people in the houses I crossed, but I had my mind locked on my bounty now. Alarms raged as I vaulted through a window, smashed a door and nearly pulverised a police car, using it as a springboard to propel me onto the next set of rooftops. This was exhilarating, in a way the old Bella would not have liked at all. It made me smile – well, Animal Bella was the one smiling, but as I got closer and closer to that promised banquet I could scarcely differentiate between us. Animal Bella's burning desire was becoming mine now; I was losing my will, I was feeling my throat burn as if someone were trying to fight their way out with a grater and a matchstick. I wanted it to end, _I _wanted that sweet liquid to sooth the pain.

Suddenly, I had an idea. _Blood banks. Get to the blood banks. Nobody dies today._

Then I spotted the hospital, and I could only hope human Bella had managed to get through to the Animal, because I was lost to the thirst.

.o.o.o.

EPOV

"She's just run _past _them all," Rosalie breathed, horrified. "She's smashed everything but it's not...something's not _right."_

There were a lot of things not right about my Bella being a rage-fuelled monster and having been unleashed on an unsuspecting town, and in some circumstances, the fact that she had apparently spared everyone thus far might have been a comfort, a testament to her sanity. That it might be, on some level, but if she hadn't kept the will power to run in the other direction – _any _other direction – what was she after in town that overrode her new most basic need?

Carlisle was the first to identify a purpose in the path of destruction.

"The hospital."

He took off without further comment, and with redoubled efforts, the rest of us sprang after him.

_Bella could not have done this. Please, please let this not be happening. _Esme's thoughts were fretting, and sad, and hopeful. She wasn't sure how to feel. Nor was I; nor were any of us. This could potentially be the greatest disaster any of us had ever been involved in – and that was assuming the Volturi did not know. If Bella killed anyone now, even one slip up, one person...I shudder to think of the consequences.

But no matter what might follow on, our immediate priority was finding Bella. When we arrived at the hospital, it was obvious Carlisle's theory had been correct. Inside, alarms pealed and a few people were screaming.

"Stay here," Carlisle ordered, to all those who could not control themselves. He disappeared inside, Alice darted ahead, and I gritted my teeth and followed. We did not reach the carnage I had expected; merely terribly flustered, upset, terrified patients being ushered back to bed by the doctors and nurses. Some were bleeding, but only from glass cut and minor collateral injuries, or agitated pre-existing wounds. The chemical stench of the hospital may have offered some protection – it was a stark antiseptic scent that had driven us out of the house many times when Carlisle came home covered in the stuff. But standing here, just inside the doorway, all stenches but the blood were overpowered by the stink of wolf.

_Morgue. Come._

Jacob: our saviour, and Bella's. He must have deterred her somehow. Judging by the battered hallway – pulverised to the brick-work in patches - and the blood-spattered staircase on the way to the Morgue, that somehow had not been peaceful. The three of us slowed as we slipped inside the doorway, hoping not to startle Bella. A few yards ahead of us, Jacob stood guard; hair and hide battered, bloody and torn, and both huge eyes fixated on a grotesque image of Bella, curled as though she might be sick around a large cooler full of blood bags. I could hear her slurping from one of them, and every now and then her body shuddered with simultaneous pleasure and disgust.

"Bella?" Alice inquired softly.

"It's...c-cold?" Bella sounded surprised at her own evaluation. She laughed shakily, like someone who had just been saved from a collapsing building, and turned to look at us. Carlisle's eyes widened, unquenchable disbelief freezing him to the spot as refrigerated, willingly-donated human blood dribbled down Bella's chin. Alice's expression matched his quite well, and I'd be willing to bet, so did mine.

"It's cold," Bella repeated, weakly waving a drained bag at us. "I don't like that. But it tastes good."

Carlisle let out a sigh of relief.

"Did- did I hurt anyone?"

"No," Carlisle murmured, still stunned. _Blessed be Thy name. _Bella stared past him, at me. I smiled gently.

"No, love," I repeated.

"Good." Slowly – guiltily, almost, though more like shy for feeling guilty – she wiped some of the blood off her chin with her tongue. Her eyes shifted to Jacob. His hard expression did not change, and he kept chanting; _Morgue. Come. Morgue. Come. _The others would be here soon.

"That was a close one, wasn't it?" Bella wondered shakily, looking back at me, seeing that – at least for now – Jacob was a lost cause. Cautiously, she stood. "Did I pass?"

"Yes, you absolutely did." I opened my arms, and she took sanctuary in them, curling in on herself instead of wrapping her arms around me. Instead, I wrapped mine around her and kissed her hair. "Bella Swan, you are a miracle. Let's go home, okay?"

"H-home? We're staying?" She looked up at me, frowning. "Edward, what if I do this again? What if I can't control it next time? I practically blacked out back there; I could have done anything."

"But you didn't, okay? Remember that."

"She's right, though, Edward," Carlisle put in. I suspect it was for Jacob's benefit – or perhaps to calm the werewolf down – that he spoke aloud. "We cannot stay here. It's simply too dangerous to live so close to a town with a newborn. By the end of the week, we'll be gone."

Bella deflated a little, and buried her face in my shoulder. She still trembled every now and then, simultaneously wired and exhausted by her experience. Slowly and calmly, especially given the high speed chase of only minutes before, we emerged from the Morgue and hobbled outside. Carlisle and Alice shared the bizarre but wonderful news of our casualty-free incident, and we all headed home at a gentle jog to negotiate our next step.

As we jogged, Bella remained silent. She frowned at an empty space in front of herself, and her eyes were deep and sad. It was grief and guilt doing this to her. I had seen it in all of us, to some degree. _It's perfectly natural, _I assured myself. She had just lost her father, and had what little remained of her human life snatched away from her. Then she had nearly rampaged through Forks – and not just the town, the _hospital. _It had been a big couple of days. She needed silence, and time to be alone with her thoughts, and she would eventually recover to some semblance of the meek, bright, content girl I had known, and had fallen in love with. Time would heal many wounds, and we had all the time in the world - but for now, it still hurt to watch her suffer.


	20. Chapter 20

**AN ~ HELLO! Yes, I'm still alive! Hopefully my Stars readers know that – I haven't been quite so negligent with that. HOW AWESOME was BD2 btw?! **

**Anyway I'm SO SORRY I took so long with this update, I was stuck for time and for inspiration (as some of you may have noticed, by muse has been slightly preoccupied with Doctor Who) but the point is, it's here now! Thank you SO MUCH those of you who have stuck with me, I am so grateful for your support and your forgiveness, and I hope you have liked and continue to like this story! Extra long one today! It's approaching its end though – only one, maybe two chaps to go after this.**

**In my gratitude and apology, I will write a oneshot for anyone who asks on Twilight, Bones, Castle, NCIS, or of course Doctor Who. In less than a fortnight from the ask. I promise!**

**Ok, done sucking up now:**

Previously...

The Volturi arrived, attacked everybody, and ended up killing Charlie before disappearing. Victoria met a grisly end at the hands (or rather, claws) of the amorous Jacob Black, but it was too late for Bella and she was changed. Following this, there was a frightful incident where she escaped the Cullens and attacked the hospital, only to (thankfully) prove her outstanding sense of self control by getting to the blood bank before anything too serious happened.

But a close call is a close call, and with vampire-werewolf relations becoming increasingly tense, it's time for the Cullens to leave Forks.

EDWARD POV

Chapter Twenty:

Though she was the least willing to leave, Bella was first in the car when the time at last came. Four days had passed since her rampage, and she had not come out of her sullen mood for more than a few minutes at a time. Thankfully, none of the others looked at her strangely for it, or acted overly kind. They all understood what she was going through on a level that Bella herself could not comprehend: all she knew was that as Rose and Emmett hurried to finish packing and drive off while Esme and Carlisle lingered, staring up at their house over the top of Carlisle's Mercedes, that they were saying goodbye just as much for her as for themselves.

Bella stared absently out the window, at a small crack in the porch step, as she felt the Volvo's engine bubble to life and the car begin to roll forward.

"I'm sorry," she murmured when at last the crack – and the house – was out of sight.

"We know, Bella," I assured her, trying to shut out the edges of resentment on the thoughts of some of my family; they did not mean to hold this against her, not even Rosalie, but they were deeply hurt, so it was inevitable. "We're sorry too. I'm sorry. It should not have been like this."

Bella almost laughed. "Like this? Edward, you would not have been happy if we had gotten married and you had changed me yourself."

"Hey," I could not stop myself growling, shocked and offended at her over simplistic judgement of my feelings. "Bella, I love you, okay? And yes, I would have liked to save your immortal soul but clearly Victoria – and maybe God, if you believe Carlisle – has other plans for you; for us. Whatever those are, I am glad you're alive...to whatever extent that applies to us. Don't you ever, for _one moment, _think that I am not happy with you, Ms Swan."

Bella smiled, comforted by this even though she still had plenty of doubts. Picking uncertainly at a loose thread on her jeans – a habit she had not been able to break though I was sure she knew she would likely destroy the pants before the journey was over – she took a deep breath and gushed out another proposal:

"IwannaseeJake."

"What?" I snorted. It was a ridiculous idea. My fingers tightened their grasp of the steering wheel, and I considered what words may convey how much trouble we would potentially put ourselves in to aquiesce her request. Having teamed up against Victoria might have purchased us some allowance, but none of us wanted to risk it. Jasper was already warning me, in fact.

"I want to see Jake," Bella repeated more slowly, as though I had misheard even though she knew that was impossible. "I _have _to see him, Edward. Please? He's my best friend and he's the only one from my old life who knows anything about all of this. He's...he's the only one from my old life left."

She turned her melancholy eyes to look at me, and I fixed his eyes straight ahead for a long, drawn-out moment. I could not look into those eyes; they were not quite her eyes. Not yet. They were still a fraction too wild, too bloodthirsty. Besides, she was asking me as Jacob's Bella, and the instant he saw those eyes, he would know everything. He would try to kill us – and through the simple exploitation of Carlisle's own pen and ink, be justified in his attempt.

But Bella knew that, or at least she acknowledged that the bonds between vampire and wolf kind were forged from instinctive enmity that she could not hope to solve, and that according to them, she was their friend no longer. She was not even human; not even animal. She was a monster, to be forever abhorred if not killed. If she was willing to risk that, to face that, I could not bring myself to contradict her. Resigned, I sighed.

"This is a really stupid idea," I repeated.

"I know," Bella insisted. "_Please?"_

.o.o.o.

BELLA POV

Edward growled, cursing the universe but unable to back out on his decision. With a little more ferocity than necessary, he kicked the car back a gear and braked in time to whip around an approaching corner. Behind us, Carlisle's Mercedes skidded and fought his sudden change of instruction, but soon was following them once more as Edward's cell began to ring from the cup holder closest to him. He picked it up and I was reminded for a chilling moment of La Push. Briefly, I found a part of myself wishing he would watch the road a little more carefully, even though it no longer passed at such a dizzying speed as it had when I was human.

"_Edward, what are you doing?" _A tinny bastardisation of Carlisle's voice came through the cell's speaker. _"We should not go over there. We MUST not. I know we have not broken any rules yet, but this is one! They need no more reason to attack us."_

"Bella just wants to say goodbye," Edward explained, in a voice strangely calm considering how fast he was driving, and how strained his neck muscles were.

"_You are putting everyone in danger," _Carlisle warned._ "Turn around NOW."_

"I cannot."

Edward flipped the phone closed and tossed it into the back seat. I probably should have felt guilty, but as the Blacks' humble home came into sight – and approaching quickly – I became rather more absorbed in the joy and sorrow of seeing, and of farewelling, the final fragment of my human life. The constant, quiet presence in that life; the one who had always tried to protect me, I realised now, right from before I had known about Edward and his family. Jacob's attempts were in the most part misguided, sure, but a secret compartment of me somewhere deep down loved him for the fact that he had tried; loved him for having loved me. And for his graciousness regarding my total lack of acknowledgement of his affections this whole time: I'd had a lot of time to think about this moment in the last few days, and though I could not be sure of exactly how deeply his feelings for me ran, I had to be glad for Jacob's maturity, essentially, in giving me up.

Then again, I thought with a choked gulp as Edward's Volvo pulled up in front of the house, perhaps he did not have a choice. I was a vampire now after all; it's not as though we had a chance even if I wanted us to.

"Well?" Edward prodded. The engine was still clicking as it cooled. Both his hands were wrapped tightly around the steering wheel, his whole body tense. I heard the Mercedes pull in behind us, but I could not get out of the car. I glared at the door of Jacob's little house with such an intense gaze that I was almost surprised it didn't burst into flames; yet, there it sat, perfectly happy not to assist in any way in my attempt to work up enough courage – or guilt, or even rage – to face Jake.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, the door opened. Inside, Billy hurried out of the way as a raging Jacob flew down the hall and out onto the mud and grass, looking about ready to tear the Volvo to shreds with his bare hands.

"Jacob, stop!" Billy ordered in a deep voice, rolling out of the house after his son. Jacob obeyed immediately, though he was still staring Edward down and his heart still pumping fast enough to phase on the slightest trigger. I shot out of her seat and stood in a defensive crouch in front of the car, blocking Edward, Esme and Carlisle from Jacob's wrath.

"What are you doing here?" Jacob demanded in a snarl. His ferocity surprised me, though I should have been expecting it, but the predator in me told me to fight rather than flee: I strengthened my position.

"Jacob, calm down," I insisted, yelling to get through to him even though I was unavoidably acutely aware of our highly tense audience. "I came to say goodbye. We're leaving, okay?!"

This seemed to take some of the fire out of his blood. His shoulders lowered slightly, though they remained tense. His eyes flickered to Billy, whose expression was stony and harsh, but whose eyes were glistening as he internally fought over what to make of Bella Swan: Vampire. She was dangerous, she was no longer herself...and yet, she was. She was still so much like Bella. I could see the conflict in his eyes, and even moreso in Jake's, and I couldn't tell which one of us it hurt more.

.o.o.o.

EDWARD POV

After a moment, Billy shifted his eyes to Carlisle, and though the vampire faced him off with an equally powerful expression, he knew the man was burning inside. Carlisle had proven himself to be more relatable, more human, than the werewolves would have liked. I almost smiled at that: along with their conflict over Bella's transformation, this made their stance towards us much less solid. No friendship was going to spring up any time soon, but it was looking increasingly likely that we would get out of here after all.

But Billy's next thought was of Charlie, and the harsh resolve of their engrained perception of reality set in. These people were not people. They had taken Isabella from her father, and then him from her, and from all of his friends. The Clearwaters were at his house, sorting through his things and...arranging a funeral.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly. Jacob growled under his breath.

"What?" Bella asked, glancing over her shoulder at me. "What's going on?"

"They're organising a funeral for Charlie. I don't think we picked a good time, Bella."

"Stay out of our heads," Jacob snarled.

"Jake," Billy warned, rolling forward so that he was closer to us than was his son. He was a brave man: he still honestly believed that one of us attacking him was a possibility. But he was certain it would not be Carlisle, and it was my father in no small part who inspired the Quileute's next words. "Give them the chance to leave. That's all they want to do."

There was a long moment of near-silence, filled only by the huff of Jacob's loaded breaths, and the thudding of hearts...and then, far off but rapidly approaching, the footsteps of more wolves.

"Esme, get in the car," Carlisle murmured. Esme frowned, unsure what purpose that would achieve since she would run faster without it, but followed instructions – only to realise a moment later, as though they were connected, that he intended this to be a peace offering. It was risky. The vehicle would impede Esme, if only for a moment – but if the wolves were allowed to get close enough, a moment was all they would need.

"Faster!" Jacob shouted into the air. The wolves heard him, and passed the message around, and surged forward.

"Jacob," Carlisle began, stepping forward – though he was still shielded and distanced from the Quileutes by the Volvo. "Jake, please. They'll kill us."

Jacob howled with rage and agony, and a russet-brown wolf taller than any of us replaced his form, snarling viciously, his eyes baring straight into mine, daring me to speak. He contemplated attacking Esme, and I bore my teeth – not out of fear, as he was outnumbered and would not risk such a thing, but out of rage that he dare pretend it.

Before I could speak proper, though, screeching brakes created an ear-piercing din and a moment later, Alice and Jasper's car careened into sight, only to pull up askew beside the Mercedes and leap out of their vehicle so fast the doors almost fell off. They were joined a tenth of a second later by Rose and Emmett, on foot.

"Esme, get out of the car," Jasper ordered, dashing up to Carlisle's side. Esme did not hesitate – not because she had questioned the rightfulness of her husband's original request, but because she wanted to be with her family in this trying time. Already, her mind was battling the concept that she would likely have to fight, and potentially kill, our attackers, who were but children in reality. Part of her detested the fact, but she could not wholly despise that she loved her own family more; that she was prepared to do this if necessary.

I felt Bella brush her hand against mine, and I quietly took it. She looked up at me forlornly, as though she simply could not understand what had happened to her old friends.

"Why won't they stop?" It was almost a whimper. She had not had time to learn about the treaty, the line, any of the history between our two species. She had no idea of the depth to which these hostilities ran, or what it meant that they had been thrown into question by her unique situation. She, like them, was only a child.

I scooped Bella towards myself, hugging her to my chest, and though I felt Jacob's rage grow, I could not repress the expression of my emotion. I might only have a few more seconds.

"Jacob," Billy growled.

And in the forest, all the shouting between the wolf minds softened to a dull murmur, and the racing footsteps and cracking vegetation turned into a soft and unrushed padding through undergrowth. And then two of them, the two closest, transformed into their human shapes and emerged from the trees.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N ~ Hello everyone! Yes, I am alive. Hopefully lots of you either read Doctor Who, or Stars, so at least you got something out of me since...heaven only knows the last time I updated this fic. The good news is, the reason I haven't updated is generally because I've been too happy to! I wrote this fic at a seriously stressful and depressing part of my life and it was a bit of a challenge to get back there. I'm not sure I did it 100% but I kinda hope I didn't because I want this chapter to have the slightest edge of optimism. It is the last one after all, which hopefully doesn't come as too much of a shock.**

**Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed it. Insofar as enjoy is the right word.**

**In my gratitude and apology, I will write a oneshot for anyone who asks on Twilight, Harry Potter, Sherlock, or Doctor Who. In less than a fortnight from the ask. I promise!**

**Ok, done sucking up now:**

Previously...

The Volturi arrived, attacked everybody, and ended up killing Charlie before disappearing. Victoria met a grisly end at the hands (or rather, claws) of the amorous Jacob Black, but it was too late for Bella and she was changed. Following this, there was a frightful incident where she escaped the Cullens and attacked the hospital, only to (thankfully) prove her outstanding sense of self control by getting to the blood bank before anything too serious happened.

But a close call is a close call, and with vampire-werewolf relations becoming increasingly tense, it's time for the Cullens to leave Forks. Bella makes a stupid decision (which she doesn't realise the gravity of, not knowing about the treaty and all) but Edward stupidly agrees, and the family all end up outside the Blacks' house where a tense conversation goes down.

Enter serious prose.

"_What are you doing here?" Jacob demanded in a snarl. His ferocity surprised me, though I should have been expecting it, but the predator in me told me to fight rather than flee: I strengthened my position._

"_Jacob, calm down," I insisted, yelling to get through to him even though I was unavoidably acutely aware of our highly tense audience. "I came to say goodbye. We're leaving, okay?!"_

"_They're organising a funeral for Charlie. I don't think we picked a good time, Bella."_

"_Jake," Billy warned, "Give them the chance to leave. That's all they want to do."_

"_Why won't they stop?" It was almost a whimper. _

_And in the forest, all the shouting between the wolf minds softened to a dull murmur, and the racing footsteps and cracking vegetation turned into a soft and unrushed padding through undergrowth. And then two of them, the two closest, transformed into their human shapes and emerged from the trees._

Chapter Twenty One

I reached an arm out, in front of Bella, and scooped her to my side. Esme edged closer as Carlisle took a careful step forward. I watched his graceful step and felt a fraction less tense. My fingers loosed a little on Bella's arm and I heard Esme let out part of a baited breath. Around us, the wolves' heartbeats slowed, just a fraction, enough for them to notice perhaps, but not to suspect anything - good on Jasper. The man knew his risks.

Carlisle was not as adept at assessing situations like these; brilliant though he was, he was an idealist at heart, and determined to believe that everyone had intentions as well-wishing and harmonious as his own. From the looks on their faces, the two wolves who had transformed had other plans. They strode right in between Jacob and our family. One was a short, springy young boy, perhaps about 14, with a rock hard glare on his face and a redness around his eyes that gave away what his overtly tough stance was trying to hide. The other was a tall, lanky young woman with eyes like flint. She looked like she was ready to spit fire at Carlisle – and in her head, she was.

"Leah Clearwater," she introduced herself scathingly. "I spent the afternoon dressing my dead godfather. Anything to say for yourself, leech?"

Carlisle could only hold out his hands in a gesture for mercy.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm so sorry for the trouble we and our kind have caused. I'm sorry about Charlie. I know he was a dear friend of yours."

The wolves were unscathed, though Billy inched forward. He was contemplating taking control of the situation. Could he really do that? As a non-wolf member of the pack, did he have any actual authority? Of course they respected him, but defending the Cold Ones was probably on the list of taboo subjects for a respected leader of the Quileutes.

"Please," Carlisle continued, wringing his hands for a moment before noticing his own tic and stopping himself. "Please let us do something to help. Money perhaps? Not much by way of compensation, I know, but-"

"Thank you," Seth said gruffly. In his head I saw him hugging his knees on the Swans' living room floor, sobbing. His eyes passed over mine and he looked away, crossing his arms over his bare chest. "C'mon Leah," he mumbled. "I wanna go."

"Take the house," Carlisle suggested – almost pleading as he held the keys out to the young wolves. "Sell it if you l-"

"He said _thank you."_

Leah stepped up until she was right in Carlisle's face. She breathed heavily, though his scent was choking her, just to make him uncomfortable, but Carlisle scarcely showed a mark of it. She snatched the keys off him, and tossed them somewhere over her head, behind the Blacks' house.

"We don't need your charity, _vampire," _she spat. "You have until midnight and the treaty is void."

She glanced at Jacob for validation, and he nodded, lifting his eyes to cast a bitter glare over the rest of us.

"Let's get outta here, Seth." They took one last look at us and leapt back into their wolf forms, shredded fragments of clothing blowing across the driveway for a moment of silence. Carlisle dropped his eyes at last, and retreated. Jacob flashed a vicious smirk at his victory – barely acknowledged as his mind still reeled with guilt and anger and hatred at us for what we had brought upon his life, his friends and his town – and disappeared inside the house. Billy nodded once to Carlisle, and my father nodded back before turning and gesturing for us all to leave. Rose, Emmett, Jasper and Rose were quick to listen, wheels already screeching back around the corner before Carlisle had taken two very deliberate steps. Esme sat in the passenger seat of the Mercedes, humming _Toreador _in her head, trying to calm a jumble of thoughts and emotions about the last couple of days, and pretending that she could not see or hear the goings-on in front of her.

Carlisle let his eyes linger over Bella and I. He was shaken, and understanding, and perhaps even a little mad, but he was also very obviously disappointed. Bella pressed closer to me. I clenched my fist and looked Carlisle straight back in the eye. Out of sight, Alice pressed her foot harder on the gas, and she and Jasper disappeared from my hearing – and we from Jasper's emotional manipulation. He didn't need any more of our negatives.

"That was very foolish," Carlisle chastised. "You are not the only ones who have lost something today and you are certainly not the only ones experiencing emotional turmoil. You had no right to do this – to breach the treaty, on impulse, with none of the rest of us even informed? What were you thinking!"

He looked from me to Bella, who lifted her face from my shoulder and stammered, horrified with herself, "I'm sorry."

As they were want to do, Carlisle's eyes softened and he touched Bella's cheek gently for a moment. Like calming a frightened animal, this coaxed her to stand straighter, though still close to my side. Under other circumstances, he might have smiled, but we were still standing too close to the fire for his comfort. He rested his eyes on mine once more.

"I expect you both to think more carefully about this family's welfare in the future," Carlisle finished. "Now let's go."

.o.o.o.

BELLA POV

Green, mountainous American forest meandered past our windows at nearly 100mph, and at some point changed into green, mountainous Canadian forest, and I stared out the window in silence, chin on my hands, shoulders collapsed. I could feel Edward looking at me every few seconds. Once, I looked back, but we missed each other and so I resumed staring. My ruby red eyes gleamed back at me, distracting me from the scenery, reminding me of all that I had done, all the trouble I had gotten my family in. My whole family.

I came away from the window, and covered those eyes with my hands for a long moment.

"...Bella?" Edward inquired carefully.

"I'm sorry," I said again – I hadn't said it nearly as much as I needed to. "I didn't mean to be so – emotional."

"It's not your fault." Edward shook his head. I gave him a sceptical glare and he added, "not entirely. You were _emotional _that's just it, not actively trying to get us in trouble."

"Get you in _trouble?!" _My hands nearly shredded my skirt. I buried them in my hair instead and pulled. "I nearly got you _killed. _I nearly got your family killed. What if Carlisle- What if _Esme?!"_

His hands tightened on the wheel.

"It's not your fault," he repeated, more solemnly this time, and a little stiffly. "You've had a lot to deal with. Losing Charlie must be hard. It is making your newborn state extremely volatile. Perhaps if you'd had the opportunity to psychologically prepare it might have been better but you've come to it under difficult circumstances. As it is, you are behaving absolutely remarkably."

I sunk in my seat, a cold, salty sadness washing through me like the ocean as I saw Charlie's lifeless face before me again. I had been so angry...that fire seemed distant now. I wondered if this is what they meant when they said unusually strong emotions, because my heart and lungs were feeling colder and colder and it felt like I might actually drown, and the scenery around us and the car, and even Edward, began to lose their shape. I remembered Charlie and all I could feel was this stormy grey ocean.

_The Christmas tree stood in the corner. Charlie lifted me over his head – and when I was too old for that, lifted me as high as he could – so that I could put the star on top of the tree. It was one he and I made together at the craft table. _Is that still at his house? Will I ever see it again? Will Jake and the Clearwaters use it at the funeral?

_I'm a bit older now. We sat in the diner, mum and him and me, and he laughed as I attacked my fries vigorously with the ketchup, and then turned it on him, pretending like I was shooting him. He lifted up the sausage on the end of his fork and shot me back, fake-radioing "Chief Swan calling for backup!" until Mum started throwing her peas at me._

_Older again – was it this year or a lifetime ago? I would argue, both. I rolled into town alone and we sat and he didn't pressure me and we didn't need to talk because things between us just were. And since I got here, they were a little awkward, but he was always there and he always wanted only to save me._

To save me.

I looked up at the windshield and my red eyes glowed back at me.

"I was not ready for this," I murmured.

"Is anyone?" Edward challenged, unusually sharp. He closed his eyes for a moment when he saw me jump, and took a deep breath, relaxing his hands on the wheel and calming his tone. "What I meant, Bella, is that you are not the only vampire to come into this life unprepared. And not the only one to come into it with a difficult story. I'm sorry if I'm being curt it's just that I've got my family inside my head right now and it's...the things they're thinking about..."

He shook his head again.

"Should I...um...drive?" My eyes flickered to the speedo – over 100mph now and he was distracted and still driving perfectly. If my reflexes had improved to that level I was twice the vampire I was ever supposed to be.

Edward thought so too, apparently; he laughed. But a reconsideration of that laugh found it much more forced than I was used to. A little like the one from Port Angeles when he was trying not to go back and kill the guys at the bookshop.

"What- what are they thinking about?"

"Their stories," Edward replied. "You know, in films, when you're about to die and your life flashes before your eyes? That's now. For us. My mum died of Spanish Influenza, you know? And Carlisle made her a promise to protect me and he tells me all the time that that's the first thing he did in two hundred years that meant something to him. And- and Emmett he was mauled by a bear. Carlisle showed up at his funeral, tried to explain what happened to his parents. Not the real version of course. Jasper was in the army in the Civil War. He was talent spotted by a vampire army and recruited, and if you look, he's got scars all over him, like scales. He's got a thirst unlike any of ours and he fights it every single day and sometimes it nearly kills him, but he can't tell anyone else how he really feels because if he did we'd feel it twice over. Esme? Esme's husband. Abused her. For _years. _She thought she'd gotten away from him with World War One but when she miscarried the hospital reunited them again, isn't that lovely?"

He was bitter and sarcastic, unlike the Edward I know. I had only seen a few flashes of him like this, and they made Vampire Bella just as uncomfortable as Human Bella. Edward glared out the window and wrenched the gears unforgivingly as we surged over the crest of a hill and down the other side.

"_That's why I jumped off the cliff, you know."_

With a shriek I raked my hands through my hair, dragging it over my face. Rage and loathing and sadness battled and I sobbed until the sadness won out and turned me back into the drowning, whimpering Bella of a few moments ago. Edward, sufficiently vented at least to see what I needed of him, put a hand on my shoulder. Just like his rage, it was honest. It made me feel warmer, like the sun was rising over the ocean of my grief.

"I am a horrible human being," I sniffed. Which was of course, wrong. It only made it worse. I hiccuped sobs. How could vampires have no tears? How could I express this any other way?

"You weren't. And you aren't a horrible vampire either. We're simply scared, Bella, just like you are. We've been through a lot together and we've had too many close calls not to be a little tense." His tone softened as he began to draw small, light circles on my shoulder blade. "There are so many things about us you don't know, Bella," he whispered, as if it were a promise. "This family comes from dark, broken places. It's going to take a lot of learning before you can even scratch the surface of what life in our world truly means. But I love you, and you are a part of this family now. We will help you get better in time. All things shall pass."

I straightened a little, and he let his hand drop to rest on my leg. I put my closest hand over it, and together they sparkled in the sun.


End file.
